MONTICELLO – This past year – 2025 – was more or less the break-even point in the last five years as revenue streams after COVID-19 expired, but expenses continued in Sullivan County.
That assessment came Thursday from Matt Montalbo, an auditor from Drescher & Malecki LLP, the firm that reviewed the county’s revenues versus expenditures last year.
He told county lawmakers the county must shoulder the burden of mandated expenses.
“In New York, the counties are essentially the last line of defense when it comes to social service programs and a lot of mandated programs,” he said. “So, the federal government can push costs down to the state level, the state can push it down to the county level. There’s no further pushing on any of those costs, so you are really absorbing all those costs to run – in New York State – to run those county programs.”
Couple that with the county’s sales tax collections down by $5 million and rising expenses, Montalbo said Sullivan will face financial challenges going into 2026.
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