CARMEL- Earlier this month, Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne released his 2024 Executive Budget Proposal, which if adopted, would reduce the county’s property tax rate to the lowest it has been in 15 years. Byrne is pushing for no tax increase and the lowest tax rate in more than a decade to be adopted in the final spending plan, which would have to be approved before the end of the year.
“This budget lowers the property tax rate to $2.87 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or 2.87 percent, representing the lowest property tax rate for Putnam in 15 years,” said Byrne.
Byrne pointed to the numbers, which indicate that Putnam County is spending less per person on municipal services than almost any other county in the Hudson Valley.
Byrne said that delivering a budget without increasing the county’s tax levy was no small feat. He said that Governor Hochul and the state legislature made the job of counties more difficult by eliminating critical funding for Medicaid. Medicaid, a state mandated program, is administered by counties and makes up a large portion of county budgets across the state.
“We have an obligation to practice fiscal discipline where we can,” said Byrne.
The county legislature will now have its opportunity to make modifications to the executive budget proposal before a final budget is adopted.
A full video of Byrne’s budget presentation can be found below.
