In its third consecutive year under the state mandated tax cap, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy is offering up a 2016 budget with a zero tax increase. In what some are calling a political twist, the spending plan is out a month earlier than its customary release.
The $610 million budget comes in about $13 million more this year; the county sales tax will increase 1.1 percent over 2015 estimates, which McCoy sees as a sign of a healthy, growing economy — and as a signal he has turned things around. Overall spending will increase, but McCoy says policy and leadership changes at the Albany County Nursing Home have resulted in significant savings of $6 million. "When I took over we were borrowing $15 million a year to make payroll, our reserves were at all-time low, roughly between $19 and $20 million, and we had non-union workers with no pay raises in four to six years, and union workers that didn't have a contract since '08. So things weren't good. But in the last three and a half years in partnerships and I kept sayin' this, 'we have to change the cohesiveness of this organization, we have to turn it around,' y'know it's being like a ship captain, sayin' we're goin' into a different direction, we have to deliver services differently, we gotta be smarter and we have to do a lot of partnerships. In doing so this is the first year in six years that we're not borrowing 15 million to make payroll, which, is no, y'know, that was no small feat. We didn't use reserves. We didn't use budget gimmicks to pay down. We just did it by doing things differently."
He says doing things differently resulted in $104 million in revenue to localities along with a year to date growth in sales tax 3.2 percent over 2014. McCoy points to the Land Bank, which this year transferred 121 properties, as another success under his watch. "We invested a million dollars into this land bank. And it's working. And we're gonna be doing short announcements on new homes that are gonna be opening up that people will move into an dpay taxes, but most importantly, the quality of life in the neighborhoods will get better, and they'll attract new businesses, these little mom and pop stores on the corner, or, who knows, another hardware store locally-owned, these are really gonna help the cities keep people there and change the whole quality of life of a whole city block. And we're investing another $500,000 for next year to help the land bank."
McCoy adds Albany had the 10th lowest residential county taxes in the state in 2013 – a rank he calls "likely to improve" next year. "One thing I say to your listeners, if you look at your bill, say in the city of Albany, on a home of about roughly $171,000. For every 42 dollars assessment on a thousand dollar assessment, $3.09 goes to the county. Uh, I think $12.67 goes to the city. $26 goes to the school bill. So I mean that's the biggest difference. I mena we're at $3, the city's at $12 and the school district's at $26. These are things we need to work with in a partnership. To really not just keep our taxes lower in the county. But I'll be workin' with Mayor Sheehan on other things that we can help complement each other's governments and really keep the taxes down. But we also need to work with the school district 'cause the bill is just too much."
McCoy’s challenger in next week's Democratic primary is not impressed. Dan Egan dismissed McCoy's budget release as "nothing more than a transparent election year gimmick." "...and it is unsettling for Albany County families to witness Dan McCoy squirm for last-minute votes, using his office to appeal to voters. Albany County voters see straight through McCoy's early county budget release for what it is: a calculated political stunt. Dan McCoy doesn’t want Albany County’s hardworking families to realize that under his tenure in office, property taxes have increased faster than almost every single county in the entire state of New York."
McCoy’s spending plan now goes to the Albany County Legislature for approval.
On the political side, McCoy picked up an endorsement from the New York League of Conservation Voters Thursday. Egan is backed by progressive favorite Zephyr Teachout, who challenged Gov. Cuomo in last year’s primary.
