Seneca County supervisors will hear a presentation of the tentative 2027 county budget Tuesday, with a separate slate of proposals covering federal aid, employee salaries, public health and the cost of state mandates.
The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 at the county office building, 1 DiPronio Drive in Waterloo, according to the agenda and resolution packet distributed by the county clerk’s office. Finance Director Julie Bub and County Manager and Budget Officer Melissa Taylor are scheduled to present the budget, followed by an open-floor period.
The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m., followed by Public Works at 5:45 p.m. The packet does not provide a total for the tentative county budget or a proposed tax levy.
Federal aid, social services and public health
One proposal would redirect $390,387.87 in remaining American Rescue Plan Act allocations. The attached worksheet shows $442,367.39 available before the proposed transfers and $51,979.52 remaining afterward.
The transfers would put $170,148.03 toward Office for the Aging and Three Bears projects, $24,000 toward a highway building feasibility study, and $196,239.84 toward water and sewer director costs spanning the remainder of 2025, 2026 expenses to date and estimated additional 2026 costs.
The worksheet draws those funds from remaining Willard redevelopment and related allocations, part of the Grow Seneca allocation and a small Cornell Cooperative Extension balance. It leaves $27,568.56 for Grow Seneca and $24,410.96 for the Route 414 sewer project’s first phase.
Other proposed 2026 budget amendments would shift $504,959 from Medicaid-related and Safety Net Assistance accounts to child care, move $35,000 from Raise the Age to Title XX, and recognize $2,151,540 in prior-year sales tax while reducing the Tax Reduction Reserve by the same amount. Another transfer would move $45,000 from trial counsel to claims.
Supervisors also will consider appointing Dr. Timothy Ryan as medical director for a two-year term running from Nov. 1, 2026, through Oct. 31, 2028. The role includes oversight of the county’s licensed diagnostic and treatment services and clinical laboratory, along with chairing the Board of Health.
A separate resolution would urge state regulation of synthetic, adulterated and high-potency kratom products, including testing, labeling, child-resistant packaging and age verification. The proposal calls for state enforcement and protections against shifting unfunded enforcement duties to counties.
Another would ask the state to require age-appropriate education about fentanyl and counterfeit pills in middle and high schools. The county proposal calls for annually updated instruction, information about naloxone and calling 911, and state funding, with lessons incorporated into existing coursework.
State funding requests and purchasing rules
A group of resolutions would seek state and federal changes affecting county finances. These include retaining the local Medicaid growth cap, funding new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program administrative and benefit-related costs, and preserving full state reimbursement of eligible Raise the Age expenses.
The SNAP resolution cites an estimated $168 million statewide shift in administrative costs and possible benefit error-rate penalties exceeding $1.1 billion. Those are estimates in the proposed county resolution, rather than a calculation of Seneca County’s individual obligation.
Other requests call for a 5% increase in the Flexible Fund for Family Services to $1.014 billion and an increase in Code Blue funding from $20 million to $40 million, including support for year-round, low-barrier shelter services.
The child care proposal seeks full and timely funding for the Child Care Assistance Program and would have the state assume financing responsibility while counties continue determining eligibility. A related technology proposal seeks statewide support for automated eligibility interviews, income verification and other tools intended to reduce social services processing work.
Public Works resolutions would urge lawmakers to raise competitive bidding thresholds from $20,000 to $75,000 for purchases and from $35,000 to $150,000 for public works contracts. Another would increase the Wicks Law threshold in the 54 upstate counties from $500,000 to $2 million, while retaining project labor agreement provisions and calling for periodic review.
The county also would seek clarification and preservation of cooperative purchasing authority that expires June 30, 2027, state payment of court building operation and maintenance costs, and federal safeguards against withholding congressionally authorized assistance outside lawful authority.
Vehicles, buildings and airport business
Local purchasing proposals include a $46,998.50 Ford F-150 for the Highway Department from Van Bortel in East Rochester and two 2026 Ford Police Interceptor vehicles totaling $91,972.43 from Nielsen Fleet in New Jersey. The police vehicle resolution is pending committee consideration.
Two flooring projects would use ProCarpet: $36,062.28 to replace more than 30-year-old carpet in probation offices at 1 DiPronio Drive, and $37,992.15 for vinyl flooring at the training center at 6471 Route 96A in Romulus.
Supervisors also will consider selling surplus vehicles, trailers, equipment and furnishings at auction. The resolution provides for scrapping items that do not sell.
Airport proposals address hangar rates and a process allowing the county manager to negotiate agreements, subject to required committee approval and county attorney review. A separate resolution would set a public hearing for 6 p.m. Nov. 24 on hangars 4 and 7, pending the Nov. 10 Public Works Committee discussion.
Personnel, contracts and community projects
A proposed 2027 salary law lists compensation for public officers and management employees, including $162,813 for the county manager, $151,127 for the finance director and $122,765 for the sheriff. The attached management salary schedule is labeled with a 3% increase and a 1.9% step increase; that schedule does not establish the percentage change for every fixed salary listed in the law.
The proposed law is subject to permissive referendum and filing requirements. The packet calls for the first payroll after Jan. 1, 2027, as the pay implementation point, subject to the law taking effect.
Other personnel items would revise jury-duty leave, replace a mental health clinical therapist position with a senior clinical therapist position, and seek state-funded 25-year retirement eligibility for probation officers. The jury-duty policy would provide regular pay for eligible full-time employees for up to 30 days while requiring jury fees to be remitted, excluding mileage and meal allowances.
Mental health and addiction service items include proposed individual provider agreements and $1,869,888 in agency agreements supported by state aid and del Lago funds without a mandated local share. Another amendment would add 226.5 hours and $27,180 to a psychiatric nurse practitioner agreement, bringing it to $123,180.
The agenda also includes a one-year, $60,265 paralegal agreement for the Public Defender’s Office, a two-year probation software support agreement, and a $492,944 weatherization contract running from Nov. 1, 2026, through April 30, 2028, without a county match.
An agreement with the village of Waterloo would have county code enforcement administer village floodplain requirements through Dec. 31, 2030, subject to county attorney review.
Community items include $5,000 for December’s It’s a Wonderful Life Museum and Festival tourism promotion, $2,175 to repair and repaint the Memorial Day marker at Lafayette Park in Waterloo, and a $2,100 grant-supported historical marker for the Morehouse Boat Factory on Cayuga Lake.
Two election grants would provide $9,354.58 for election expenses and $8,094.01 for mail ballot postage, both without a county match. Proposed Soil and Water Conservation District appointments include Elisabeth Freier representing the Farm Bureau for 2027 through 2029 and Michael Reynolds and Jeffrey Trout for 2027.
The packet contains proposed actions for Tuesday’s meeting; it does not establish that supervisors have approved them.
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