KINGSTON – The minority Republican caucus in the Ulster County Legislature is questioning why Democratic County Executive Jen Metzger is proposing $100,000 less in her 2027 county budget for emergency food grants than she did in this year’s spending plan.
“You can’t spend months warning residents about the consequences of federal cuts, use those same concerns to justify a new county income tax, and then turn around and reduce funding for emergency food assistance in your own budget,” said Minority Leader Kevin Roberts.
But, Metzger said on Thursday that she had proposed a one-time expenditure of $350,000 for larger food pantries in her 2026 budget and now wanted to help smaller pantries.
“I decided to propose another grant program for the smaller food pantries in the 2027 budget because this is where we heard needs have been particularly great, and we are seeing the costs of food are rising, energy costs are rising and everything else,” she said. “We estimated that $250,000 would be needed for this program for the smaller pantries.”
Metzger said, though, that if the legislature would like to increase that budget item, she would welcome it.
Comments