KINGSTON – Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan unveiled his first budget, Thursday, a $342.28 million spending plan that is a $13 million increase from 2019 and that decreases taxes a quarter of one percent.
Increased local revenues account for the slight dip in the tax rate, Ryan said.
“The boost in sales tax and occupancy taxes is how we are able to lower the tax levy yet add more services.”
The budget also adds about 27 positions, 75 percent of which are funded by state and federal governments. Seven of those positions will be for new assistant public defenders, funded in part from a state lawsuit that addresses inequities between prosecutors and public defenders.
“There had been, in my opinion, a longstanding imbalance between the resources we give to the prosecutorial side versus the defense side,” said Ryan, “so we are trying to level off that balance.”
The budget also includes funding for full-time youth bureau and office of the aging directors, positions that were formerly part-time.
A $3 million state grant will be used to fight the opioid epidemic. The budget also includes funding for three electric buses as the county stays on track to receive 100 percent of its electricity by 2030 from local renewable sources.
