County Board Approves Budget With 8.17% Tax Increase

A large crowd attended the Nov. 21 Schoharie County Board of Supervisors meeting where the 2026 budget was adopted. Photo by Chris English.

By Chris English

SCHOHARIE COUNTY — One of the largest turnouts in recent memory saw the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors at its Friday, Nov. 21 meeting adopt a $104.39 million 2026 budget with an 8.17 percent property tax increase.

The county will use $5.5 million in fund balance, or surplus, to avoid an even steeper hike. A tax increase ranging from about 12 to 16 percent was discussed at a Nov. 10 public hearing, but the Finance Committee chaired by Supervisor Alex Luniewski and other county officials worked hard to bring the final increase down.

"This Finance Committee has worked so hard, weekends, evenings, etc.," BOS Chairman Bill Federice said. "They deserve a lot of credit."

The high tax increase is a product of county expenses going up in nearly every area, officials have said.

"These guys (Finance Committee) have left no stone unturned," Supervisor Donald Airey said. "For the past six or seven years the tax levy (increase) has been flat or very low. We've used the fund reserve to protect taxpayers, but we knew at some point it was going to come back."

Luniewski said the total fund balance currently stands at $33 million but much of that money is committed to other areas and at the end of the day including the $5.5 million being used to balance next year's budget, there will be about $6 million left.

During Privilege of the Floor at the Nov. 21 meeting, county retirees Connie Skinner and Marjorie Troidl stood up to protest a proposal to have retirees contribute 5 or 10 percent toward their health insurance premiums, a move estimated to save the county between $119,000 and $139,000. The proposal was not approved at the Nov. 21 meeting and retirees will continue having no contribution.

"It's very upsetting when we hear that benefits we all worked for are being taken away," Troidl said. "We worked for less of an annual salary because we had a benefit that was good. The small amount of money you will save is not worth upsetting this many people."

Skinner had similar thoughts, speaking before the motion to have retirees contribute toward their health insurance premiums was rescinded.

"It's really sad that myself and fellow retirees have to stand before you asking you not to take away benefits," she said.

Luniewski lamented the false rumors going around that the county planned to do away with health insurance for retirees, a program called NYSHIP.

"All we were looking for was a minor contribution because if not it would be passed on to taxpayers," Luniewski said. "There was no plan to take away NYSHIP."

Budget or finance-related motions passed at the Nov. 21 meeting were:

To switch employee health insurance plans in 2026 from CDPHP to MVP with an individual's deductible of $200 and a family's deductible of $400 in 2026, with an individual's deductible of $250 and a family's deductible of $500 in 2027 and forward.

To add the following positions to the list of exemptions from this year's hiring freeze: One dispatcher in Communication, one full-time and one part-time bus driver in Transportation and one part-time Aging Services Specialist in the Office For The Aging.

At the Nov. 10 public hearing, the Board of Supervisors had enacted a hiring freeze for the rest of this year, with the exceptions of a new Department of Public Works Commissioner, corrections officers, mental health department staffers and EMTs and Paramedics.

Other finance-related motions approved at the Nov. 21 meeting were:

Delay hiring until the second quarter of 2026.

Approve all open items in the 2026 budget.

To exempt the Communications E911 Department from the hiring freeze.

To exempt the District Attorney's Office from the hiring freeze.

To exempt drivers and bus drivers in the Transportation Department from the hiring freeze.

To create a Fire Training Reserve Account and fund it.

In some other actions from the Nov. 21 meeting, the BOS approved the appointment of Tiffany LeRoy of the Town of Cobleskill as the county's new Director of the Real Property Tax Service Agency for a term retroactive to Oct. 14 and expiring Sept. 30, 2030. Her starting annual salary will be $83,909.

Also approved was the appointment of Robert Breglio as an alternate member of the Schoharie County Planning Commission.