Seneca County supervisors will get their first scheduled presentation of the tentative 2027 county budget Tuesday while considering salaries for elected officials and senior staff, changes to federal relief spending and funding for mental health and weatherization services.
Finance Director Julie Bub and County Manager and Budget Officer Melissa Taylor are scheduled to present the spending plan during the board’s regular meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 10.
The meeting will take place on the third floor of the County Office Building at 1 DiPronio Drive in Waterloo. Two special committee meetings will precede it, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The agenda and proposed resolutions cover decisions affecting county payroll, child care assistance, public safety vehicles and airport operations, alongside requests for state and federal policy changes.
Budget presentation and proposed salaries
Tuesday’s budget presentation is a step toward setting county spending and taxes for 2027. The agenda identifies it as a presentation of the tentative budget, rather than a vote to adopt the final spending plan.
Separately, supervisors will consider a local law establishing 2027 salaries for county officers and designated senior personnel, along with the county’s management salary schedule.
Proposed annual salaries include $19,800 for the board chair, $15,603 for other supervisors, $122,765 for the sheriff, $93,891 for the county clerk and $48,687 for the treasurer.
The proposal also lists $162,813 for the county manager, $151,127 for the finance director and $175,511 for the county attorney.
The accompanying management salary schedule identifies a 3% increase and 1.9% step increases. The law would take effect 45 days after adoption, subject to its filing requirements, and apply to the first payroll period after Jan. 1.
Supervisors also will consider several resolutions asking Albany to reduce financial pressures on counties. Those requests address state mandates, child care assistance, SNAP administration, emergency shelter funding and reimbursement for implementing Raise the Age.
These measures would communicate the county’s position to state officials; they would not themselves change state funding rules.
Federal relief deadline drives proposed transfers
Another major item would redirect remaining American Rescue Plan Act money as the county approaches the Dec. 31 spending deadline.
The proposed resolution identifies $552,781.33 remaining from allocations for Willard campus redevelopment and related consulting work. It says the state still owns the property and has not provided a transfer timeline, leaving the county unable to spend those funds on the intended work before the deadline.
The proposed changes would shift money toward other county expenses, including Office for the Aging and Three Bears renovations, a highway bridge feasibility study, and water and sewer director wages and benefits.
Supervisors also will consider amendments to the current county budget that would move $504,959 into child care spending from other Human Services accounts.
A separate accounting adjustment would recognize approximately $2.15 million in prior-year sales tax revenue while reducing the corresponding budgeted use of the tax reduction reserve.
Mental health contracts and prevention proposals
The board will consider $994,166 in proposed 2027 contracts for individual mental health and substance use service providers, including psychiatric practitioners, nurses and interpretation services.
A separate package totals $1,869,888 for provider-agency agreements supporting mental health and substance use treatment and prevention. The resolution identifies state aid and the del Lago gambling contract as funding sources and says there is no mandated local share.
For current services, a proposed amendment would add $27,180 to psychiatric nurse practitioner Brianne En’s contract, bringing it to $123,180. The additional hours would help meet demand during the absence of the clinic’s full-time psychiatric nurse practitioner.
Supervisors also will consider asking New York to prohibit synthetic, adulterated and high-potency kratom-derived products and require testing, labeling, child-resistant packaging and other consumer protections. The proposal distinguishes those products from natural kratom leaf and would request state action rather than enact a county sales ban.
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Another resolution calls for fully funded, age-appropriate fentanyl and counterfeit-pill education beginning no later than middle school and continuing through high school.
Weatherization, vehicles and airport leases
A proposed State Weatherization Program agreement would authorize acceptance of a requested $492,944 award to improve energy efficiency in eligible Seneca County homes. The anticipated contract would run through April 30, 2028, with no local match.
Vehicle requests include $91,972.43 for two sheriff’s patrol SUVs and $46,998.50 for a highway department pickup.
The board also will consider replacing more than 30-year-old carpeting in the Probation Department for $36,062.28 and vinyl flooring at the Fingerlakes Fire and Police Training Center for $37,992.15.
At Finger Lakes Regional Airport, supervisors will weigh a process allowing the airport manager to negotiate building and hangar leases for committee approval, followed by legal review and execution by county leadership. Another proposal would schedule a Nov. 24 public hearing on leases for hangars 4 and 7.
The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to consider the patrol vehicle purchase. The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee follows at 5:45 p.m. to consider the airport lease hearing.
The meetings are open to the public, and the regular board meeting will be livestreamed on the county’s YouTube channel. Meeting materials are available through the county’s agenda page.
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