Personnel/Joint Pers. & Finance/Finance Mtgs. - 10.8.26

The Washington County, New York, Personnel/Joint Personnel and Finance meeting was held October 8, 2026. The Personnel Committee approved several backfill requests and staffing-pattern items, including a District Attorney law-intern position and six temporary seasonal highway-worker positions for December 15 through March 15 at a base rate of $23.34 per hour. Members asked whether the highway positions should instead be part-time or per diem; the motion carried without that question being resolved in the transcript. The committee also reviewed proposed exempt-salary adjustments totaling about $992,000. A motion to remove the supervisors’ proposed increases carried, but no final decision was made on the broader salary proposal or staffing requests.

In the budget discussion, officials reported a projected tax increase of $6,620,894, or 14.94%, and debated the need to balance employee compensation, services, and rebuilding fund balance. The board directed the budget officer to develop recommendations and seek supervisor input as needed; no overall budget or salary plan was approved. The meeting also discussed a possible county IT service for towns and villages, potentially supported by a shared-services grant of up to $1 million, but no funding or procurement action was approved. The treasurer reported an online tax-property auction planned for October 21–November 4; members approved removing a burned property at 71 Broadway, Whitehall, from the auction, and approved writing off incorrectly applied interest and penalties on Fort Edward sewer bills. No contract award or vendor selection was identified.