PORT JERVIS, N.Y.—Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus on Sept. 24 presented a $987 million budget for 2025 to local officials at Erie Trackside Manor.
The proposed spending plan is up by $63 million, or 6.8 percent, from the current year’s plan.
The county property tax levy, which supports about 10 percent of annual operating costs, is to remain flat at $122.5 million, according to Neuhaus.
Neuhaus presented his budget during a fall meeting of the Orange County Association of Towns, Villages, and Cities—an annual tradition he has observed since he was elected in 2013.
Much of the budget bump, he said, can be attributed to costly state-mandated programs and rising personnel expenses such as health insurance premiums and retirement benefits.
For 2025, the county’s share of Medicaid costs is projected to rise to $72 million, child welfare and other safety net program expenses to $26 million, and early education costs for handicapped children to $25 million, according to Neuhaus.
“And pensions are up 16.2 percent—that is a lot of pressure for mayors, supervisors, their councils, and my legislature, not inflation, right?” Neuhaus told the audience. “I am very concerned about the future of our country and the future of our state.”
Neuhaus added that the county’s continued economic development helps buffer against these cost drivers that are mostly beyond local control.
Sales tax—the county’s single largest revenue source, covering nearly half of the annual operating expenses—has increased by half over the past 10 years and is expected to reach $412 million next year, he said.
The top five sales tax generators in Orange County are clothing stores, automobile dealers, restaurants and eateries, electronic shopping, and gas stations.
The hotel and motel tax has more than doubled since 2014 and will likely reach $7 million in 2025.
“We need to continue this momentum,” the county executive said. “Woodbury Common Premium Outlets already has an application to their local planning board for expansion, and Legoland New York is in the process of coming up with some type of expansion in the near future.”
In the latter half of his budget presentation, Neuhaus highlighted a list of enhanced and new county initiatives in the areas of cybersecurity, mental health intervention, open space preservation, park system enhancements, and school safety.
He also highlighted a planned county-sponsored feasibility study of a new education center at the Otisville campus of Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County.
Department heads will present more budget information at upcoming legislative committee meetings.
