Yates County's broadband project had 81 active customer accounts and its entire second phase was live when the Finance Committee met Sept. 9, while administrators were preparing a 2027 budget with a projected 15% health-insurance increase and a tax cap that had not been finalized.
Minutes from the Finance and Government Operations committees' Sept. 8-9 meetings also show discussion of transit timing, cybersecurity, records management and county staffing. The committees accepted numerous departmental reports as information and forwarded several measures without official objection; those actions should not be confused with a final vote by the full Legislature.
Broadband connections and budget assumptions
Jeff Ayers reported to the Finance Committee that all of Phase 2 of the county's ReConnect broadband buildout was live and customer connections were underway. Phase 3 construction in southeastern Penn Yan and Dundee began Aug. 25, while a federal extension request had been submitted Aug. 16. The minutes list five of seven state transportation permits and all three Norfolk Southern permits as submitted, with Finger Lakes Railway permits still in progress.
The county submitted a Sept. 2 financial request for $32,372. Ayers also reported that 44 customer connection costs had been submitted in a June funding request and that post-inspection make-ready work was averaging about $4,000 per application. The minutes identify remaining contract and closeout work but do not report a new overall cost estimate or resolve the potential shortfall discussed in earlier project materials.
On public transportation, Ayers said a property sought by the Rochester-area transit authority had been sold and the new landlord was raising the rent. He said the site still appeared affordable and lease work continued. A fall 2027 start was discussed, but the timing and the county's budget assumption had not been settled; one suggestion was to budget for half a year because the state would determine the launch schedule.
County Finance Director Leigh Battin reported $1.6 million in sales-tax receipts in the period discussed, 10.86% above the comparison with the previous September and 4.99% above the total at the same point last year. The minutes do not specify a longer annual trend from those figures. Nineteen short-term rental properties registered between early July and late August, as the county continued monthly notices to noncompliant properties.
Battin also said the county's bank wanted to move building-reserve funds into insured sweep accounts, but that form of collateralization was not allowed by the county's investment policy. She planned further talks and said the county might move the money to another bank. The committee did not approve a change to the reserve in the minutes.
Administrator Jessica Mullins said seven cooperating agencies submitted 2027 funding requests, with six going to the Legislature and $153,651 in additional funding sought. Budget planning was using a 15% health-insurance increase. The minutes describe a pending 3.8% tax-cap increase and separately list a $16.7 million 2026 cap and an $18.4 million pending figure for 2027. They do not explain how the stated rate relates to those dollar amounts, and the 2027 cap was not final.
Budget workshops were listed for Oct. 27 at 9 a.m. and, if needed, Oct. 28 at the same time, with a public hearing and adoption meeting scheduled Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. State comptroller auditors had selected procurement as an audit objective, generally covering Jan. 1, 2025, through the end of fieldwork, with a limited look back to Jan. 1, 2021, for the Multi-use Facilities Project. The state may add objectives or expand the period during fieldwork.
Election funds and county systems
At Government Operations, election officials said approximately $16,182.59 in renewed grant funding was available, with two additional state grants listed at $7,987.92 for elections and $5,553.75 for mail ballots. The report put total available grant funds at $29,724.26. The committee had no official objection to sending two grant-contract authorizations to the Legislature while staff worked on the 2026 general-election ballot.
County information technology staff reported work with Laserfiche on communication between internal and external services, plus a planned county website refresh. They described a meeting with state homeland-security staff on phishing awareness, testing county systems and using the Joint Security Operations Center to monitor threats. The state services were described as free to Yates County, with plans to be developed over the next year rather than a finished security deployment.
The IT department also expected to discuss cloud faxing as a possible 2027 replacement for older fax systems. County Clerk Molly Linehan described deed-fraud concerns raised at a records-industry conference and said New York has more corrective than preventive measures; her report did not announce a local fraud-prevention rule. The clerk's office was also working with the state's DRIVES motor-vehicle system.
Mullins said requests under the Freedom of Information Law continued to rise and the county was working toward new FOIL software by year-end. Government Operations members discussed the possibility of quarterly evening meetings after a constituent raised the idea, but made no decision. They had no official objection to advancing amendments to the county administrative guide and Criminal Justice Coordinating Council bylaws.
Planning, staffing and other reports
Finance minutes say the county Planning Board's referrals were considered positive with no countywide impact. Ayers reported that Greenidge's president spoke about a proposed project and a possible closed-loop water system, but offered few specifics. The committee minutes do not establish a project approval or environmental finding.
On other environmental matters, 42 Yates households attended Schuyler County's hazardous-waste collection day. The county had returned a signed acceptance letter for a state septic-system replacement grant but had not received further information. Ayers said comments on the solid-waste plan would be reviewed with the regional planning council, while the next natural-resources grant round might follow the prior year's late-year schedule.
The Finance Committee had no official objection to forwarding a letter of support for a proposed conservation easement on Bruce and Jason Henderson's farm. It also forwarded 2026 budget transfers and three aid appropriations for community services and public health. Treasurer Patricia Christensen reported about $337,000 collected from delinquent-tax letters in August and said further notices were being prepared, with a March 2027 redemption date discussed.
Government Operations advanced authorization for the CanLake Ultras long-distance race. Cornell Cooperative Extension reported agriculture and horticulture calls, farm-program work and workshops, while noting its temporary 4-H educator had accepted another job and the position was being reposted. The county's administrative report also noted budget concerns about SNAP costs and health-insurance increases.
Neither set of minutes reports a final vote by the full Legislature on the forwarded items. Together, they document the work and unresolved decisions that county officials were carrying into the fall budget and project schedule.
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