CARMEL – Putnam County’s 2027 budget remains unresolved after County Executive Kevin Byrne vetoed 16 resolutions the nine-member county legislature approved during last month’s deliberations.
Byrne delivered his 19-page revised budget report to members of the legislature at the close of business Monday at 5 p.m. advising the lawmakers that he had “reviewed the changes, alterations, and revisions made by the Legislature to my Administration ‘s 2027 Tentative Budget.”
Byrne said the legislature’s proposal of “massively increasing new spending while dramatically further reducing reliable revenues has the real potential to create a growing deficit for future fiscal years. Creating this type of trend puts the county’s fiscal health at risk, which would then necessitate increased taxes and put the county’s bond rating in jeopardy in the future.”
He expressed concern regarding the proposed $12.5 million property tax levy reduction and the additional use of fund balance necessary to support it.
“Based on these discussions and my assessment of the county’s financial position, I believe further reducing the levy through additional appropriations of fund balance can risk the county’s long-term fiscal health. The County’s fund balance for Fiscal year 2026 does not establish that the same level of support will be available or sustainable in subsequent budget years,” he said.
The county executive vetoed a resolution that would have reduced the number of county vehicles assigned to his office.
He also rejected the legislature’s decision related to his COLA noting “the modification needs to be consistent with the reduction that was applied to legislator salaries,” adding that the “County Executive position did not receive a COLA in 2024 or 2025. In 2026 it received a partial COLA as part of the budget for planning purposes, but the COLA was not taken.”
Byrne also vetoed resolutions related to the deputy county executive that removed his COLA for 2027 which Byrne called “totally unjustified.”
Byrne vetoed a resolution dealing with the Sheriff’s Department request for Drones as a First Responder program. The legislators decided to place Sheriff Brian Hess’ request into a sub-contingency account.
The executive vetoed resolutions that would have moved his office’s Director of Communications to the legislature office as well as the position of Director of Compliance and Intergovernmental Relations from his office to the Law Department.
Byrne summed up his message: “Depleting too much fund balance to finance annual recurring expenses should be limited to avoid creating future structural deficits that will cause unnecessary and harmful tax increases in the future. The County is well-positioned to provide substantial property tax relief with the proposed tentative budget and should maintain its strong financial position to plan for the future while competing for a bond upgrade. Putnam County and the legislature should learn from recent history earlier this year when Rockland County received a AAA bond rating from Moody’s. However, it should not repeat Rockland County’s failed property tax holiday experiment from 1987 which created many years of economic hardship and financial risk. Relying too much on fund balance for annual expenses and tax cuts undermines our county’s future financial health and limits Our flexibility to do things like extend sales tax sharing and make the sales tax exemption on clothing and shoes permanent. If the use of fund balance cannot be sustained in the future fiscal years, it adds risk of having to increase the tax levy. This modification was not justified in committee, and no subsequent legislative memorandum corresponding with this resolution was provided offering any additional justification or detail.”
County Legislature Chairman Dan Birmingham commended his colleagues for their diligent work in reviewing and revising Byrne’s tentative budget.
“The Legislature lowered the real property tax levy from $45,212,312 in 2026 to $32,638,303 in 2027….representing over $12 million in year-to-year tax savings for Putnam’s taxpayers. The County tax levy has not been this low since 2007. Further, the County tax rate or 2027 will be 1.72 percent…the lowest tax rate in the last 30 years,” he said.
The Legislature will convene a special session in an attempt to override the 16 vetoes, each of which requires six votes.
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