The North Country Chamber held its annual State of the County City and Town this morning. The leaders of the three Northern New York municipalities agreed that, while there are some challenges, their communities are growing and well poised for continued development. But an announcement by the mayor of Plattsburgh overshadowed the speeches.
The Chamber had a record number of people registered with President Garry Douglas noting the breakfast forum has become their government affairs event of the year.
“The concept several years ago," explained Douglas, "was to bring together what had become separate presentations by the county, the city and the town to look for the synergies and see the comparisons and the ideas and to encourage continued conversation amongst the three about those things that are good for our area.”
The regional leaders focused on budget, workforce, infrastructure, quality of life and development during their addresses.
Clinton County Legislature Chair Mark Henry, a Republican, opened his presentation declaring the county is strong and is looking to the future with confidence.
“Our tax levy was lowered for the third consecutive year," reported Henry. "The county’s composite tax rate is our lowest tax rate in modern history. This good news was driven in part by the strong sales tax receipts we received in 2023 and those we are projecting for 2024. Now there may be challenges to the county budget. The governor has recently proposed an overall state budget of $233 billion. As we have seen in the past, an increase in spending would undoubtedly put downward pressure on county government to fund this spending and thereby negatively affect local property taxpayers.”
Town Of Plattsburgh Supervisor Michael Cashman noted this is his ninth, and will be his last, State of the Town as he believes in term limits. He focused on the growth of development in the town.
“The median age of Plattsburgh is 38," said Cashman. "Twenty-five percent of the town and city population is between the ages of 20 to 34. Plattsburgh is young and we are poised for growth. We have to continue to take it upon ourselves to harness that.”
Plattsburgh Mayor Chris Rosenquest, a fellow Democrat, discussed housing, infrastructure and quality of life issues. He mentioned more than once a proposal that had been put forth to change the city’s form of governance to a city manager.
“This has come up in the past but it’s something that I will stand strong on and something that I truly, truly believe that we as a community need to come back and have a real authentic conversation about having a professional run a $67 million organization and not leave it up to chance every four years," Rosenquest asserted. "We’ve got to talk about city manager. Again, we need to find a professional that runs our city to create consistency and to operate our organization effectively.”
Rosenquest also announced he will not seek a second four-year term, saying he wants to spend more time with his young son.
Chamber of Commerce officials also unveiled the 2024 Business Confidence Index, which is determined by its annual business survey of 4,000 members across the five-county region. Again, Garry Douglas:
"Eighty-two percent Business Confidence Index, that compares to 80 percent a year ago," Douglas announced. "So it’s up a bit in total.”
The Chamber will host the region’s state representatives on March 1st for an update on action in the New York Legislature.
