Schoharie County Facing 2026 Budget Crunch

SCHOHARIE COUNTY — Officials in Schoharie County will be working very hard over the next few weeks to whittle down a property tax increase in the 2026 county budget that now stands at 40 percent, Wright Town Supervisor Alex Luniewski said at the Friday, Oct. 17 Board of Supervisors meeting.

He laid out the rather gloomy budget outlook for next year in his report as Chair of the Finance Committee.

"In my 10 years here, I have never seen this," Luniewski said. "We're going to have to find money somewhere to get this (tax increase) down to something reasonable. There is no stone that will not be turned over to find funds."

He continued: "We're at the worst possible position we can be in. We're not coming away this year without a tax increase. Everything has caught up with us. Everyone think about what they feel is an acceptable tax increase and shoot me an email. Give me your thoughts and we'll go to work."

County Administrator Bryan Best said the biggest driver for the possible steep tax increase is a projected $1.7 million increase for employee health insurance for 2026 but many other factors are also involved. Luniewski said that to start using larger and larger chunks of the county's fund balance, or surplus, would result in an eventual "bloodbath."

Best said the current unassigned fund balance stands at about $24 million, and he believed the assigned fund balance was around another $10 million for a total of $34 million.

"I'm in total lockstep with Alex," regarding the budget, Best said. "We're in a situation. There's a lot of work ahead of us. There will have to be cuts across the board."

As part of the budget discussion, the Supervisors voted to freeze their pay for 2026. A public hearing on the tentative budget for next year was scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 10 in the meeting room on the third floor of the county office building in the Village of Schoharie.

"We need to look at each department with a fine tooth comb, look at them with a microscope," Luniewski continued.

Supervisor Donald Airey added that in the past few years "we've tried our level best" on the budget. "We've used fund reserve to soften the blow. We've tried to protect the taxpayers (despite) mandates and the lack of revenue the state brings to rural counties. Upstate New York is carrying an unfair and outsized burden."

In other actions from the Oct. 17 meeting, the BOS approved another six-month moratorium on the use of Biosolids in Schoharie County. It's a continuation of the current six-month moratorium which expires at the end of October. Biosolids are the organic matter that is left after sewage is treated.

County Economic Development Coordinator John Crescimanno reported that the $33.6 million broadband project started Oct. 10 in Sharon Springs and is working its way toward the Richmondville area. About 20,000 feet of fiberoptic cable has been laid so far, he added. The project when done should mean that every county resident would have the ability to connect with the Internet.

Supervisor John Leavitt presented the county Youth Bureau with a $500 check on behalf of the Cobleskill Fairgrounds and lauded the Bureau's recent work before and during the August Sunshine Fair at the Fairgrounds.

"They came down before the Fair and painted fences and posts," Leavitt said. "I can't tell you how much of a help they have been. Our Youth Bureau has done a tremendous job."

Youth Bureau Director Cody Robinson-Bullock gratefully accepted the check and updated the BOS on some of the bureau's initiatives.

"We've been so lucky to work with youth in all six county school districts," he said. "We are focused on building the workforce Schoharie County needs so desperately. We are just getting started."