Orange County Executive Neuhaus Presents his 2025 Budget

Goshen - Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus released his proposed County budget for 2025 on Tuesday, September 24^th to a packed house at the Orange County Association of Towns, Villages, and Cities meeting at the Erie Hotel and Restaurant in Port Jervis.

The proposed County Tax Rate is $2.176, which is lower than last year's rate of $2.304, and a 44 percent decrease since 2015. Orange County's Tax Rate remains the lowest Tax Rate in the County since the 1960s. In addition, the Tax Levy stays flat. The proposed budget is $987,335,559.

"Cutting the Tax Rate gives relief to every family and every business in our County," said Neuhaus. "I'm so proud of the hard work of my County administration in working together to once again create a budget that keeps the tax rate low, while still providing essential services to County residents. Maintaining strong and stable County finances continues to be a priority and I look forward to building on this positive momentum with the County workforce and the County Legislature."

"County Executive Neuhaus and his administration have once again presented the Legislature with a conservative, effective, and efficient budget," Chairwoman of the Legislature Katie Bonelli said. "It is gratifying that the Legislature, and the County Executive have an excellent working relationship, collaborating to create a budget that benefits all County residents. I look forward to the Legislative review process and the adoption of the 2025 Budget."

The County's finances have been stabilized during Neuhaus' tenure. Economic development in the County, encouraged and promoted by Neuhaus, continues to aid the County in meeting the ever-increasing costs of State mandates, particularly in social services, inmate care, and defense costs. The County anticipates collecting $122,536,148 in property taxes in 2025, while the cost of nine State mandates alone exceeds $183.0 million.

"We are fortunate to have a leader who is fiscally conservative and understands the importance of keeping property taxes down," stated Wawayanda Town Supervisor, Denise Quinn. "County Executive Neuhaus does this by also understanding the importance of having other revenue sources to run our County's government and not relying heavily on property taxes."

Additional highlights of the 2025 Executive Proposed Budget include:

• The County Tax Rate will drop for the ninth consecutive year and remain within the New York State Tax Cap mandate.
• The County's Property Tax Rate has gone down 44 percent since 2015, and property values have increased 89 percent during that same time.
• Orange County has received an AA+ bond rating from S&P Global Ratings, a distinction currently held by only four other counties in the state.
• The County has received a fiscal stress score of 0 (best possible score) with no designation from the New York State Comptroller's office.
• The County will budget $7 million in 2025 for hotel occupancy tax.
• The County generated $239.8 million in sales tax YTD 2024 and is projected to generate $412.3 million for the year.
• Public safety remains a priority, with the addition of CPR classes, peer counseling for first responders, BDA antennas/radios in schools, and the launch of the BusPatrol School Safety Program.

Other initiatives announced by Neuhaus include:

• Emergency Services: Continuing to offer free CPR classes for Orange County residents, including youth
• Information Technology: Investing in robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard our data, infrastructure, and privacy
• Career Assistance: Offering CNA classes at Valley View - a great opportunity not just for current employees, but for anyone looking to begin or advance a career in healthcare
• Mental Health: Focusing on recovery and resilience by creating more school satellite programs, using opioid settlement funds to expand prevention efforts in our schools and communities, and offering peer counseling in collaboration with Emergency Services
• County Clerk: Enhancing access with American Sign Language transactions at Motor Vehicles
• Parks and Recreation: Continuing investment in our natural assets by working to preserve Open Space and enhancing our Parks Program

Completed acquisitions:

• Sugar Loaf Mountain, from Orange County Land Trust, which will be utilized as a County park
• Schunnemunk Rail Trail, from Open Space Institute, which will eventually be connected to the Heritage Trail

Alan Seidman, Executive Director of the Construction Contractors Association of the Hudson Valley stated, "County Executive Neuhaus and his administration are doing what many governments can't, which is presenting a thorough and responsible budget that is on-time and doesn't hurt residents in the wallet," Seidman added, "Neuhaus's support and encouragement of economic development leads to job creation in our County which has a positive trickle-down effect. I appreciate his conservative stewardship of our finances."

"County Executive Neuhaus has once again collaborated with his excellent team to create a strong and realistic budget for the County, its residents, and its businesses," said Heather Bell, President and CEO of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. Bell added, "Even with the challenge of unfunded mandates from the state, Neuhaus continues to think outside the box and do more with less."

For more information, contact Rebecca Sheehan, Assistant to County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus, Director of Public Information and Media Relations, at 845.291.2700 or [email protected].

To learn more about what County Executive Neuhaus is doing for Orange County, follow Orange County Government and Steven M. Neuhaus on Facebook, @Orange County NY Govt and @steve.neuhaus on Instagram, and @OCGovNY and @SNeuhausOC on X. You can also watch Neuhaus' NeuCast podcasts and Leadership Speaker Series on YouTube.

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(Caption) County Executive Neuhaus delivers 2025 Proposed Budget Address Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

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