Budget & Finance Meeting - October 20, 2026 - Putnam County Legislature, NY

The Putnam County Legislature Budget and Finance Committee met on October 20, 2026, to review changes to the proposed 2027 budget. The committee approved a $50,000 increase in outside legal-services funding, from $350,000 to $400,000, and approved a one-time $35,000 contribution for an elevator at the Depot Theatre, placed in a contract line. It also approved $15,000 in subcontingency for a countywide tourism-impact study and increased the Soil and Water Conservation District contribution by $66,000, from $104,000 to $170,000. The committee approved adding $3.5 million to 2027 subcontingency for consideration of a proposed municipal public-works and infrastructure cooperation project; the proposal would combine that amount with $6.5 million already held in 2026 subcontingency toward a proposed $10 million, two-year program. No project contracts or municipal agreements were awarded at this meeting.

The committee also increased the proposed Drones as First Responders budget to $312,333, but placed the funding in subcontingency pending further discussion. It shifted a $12,000 vehicle-lease chargeback to the Health Department and barred county executive office employees from take-home or 24-hour access to county-owned or leased vehicles; members also called for a broader county vehicle policy. Uniform funding for most departments was moved to subcontingency pending policy review, with specified exceptions. Other procurement- and spending-related actions included approving $50,000 in subcontingency for 911 diversion training and $28,600 for an enhanced employee assistance program. The committee approved $150,000 in subcontingency for food-insecurity efforts, while a separate motion to increase Second Chance Foods’ 2027 allocation to $40,000 failed. Tourism advertising was reduced from $60,000 to $40,000, and a proposal to eliminate $52,000 in real-property tax-bill production charges did not pass.