Monticello, NY – County Manager Joshua A. Potosek today presented a 2026 Tentative Sullivan County Budget to the Legislature that avoids cuts to programs but also faces the reality of increased costs and declining sales tax revenues.
“The 2026 Tentative Sullivan County Budget continues to carefully position the County to maintain its fiscal stability and provide the services taxpayers need and demand,” Potosek said. “Originally, we were looking at a much higher, double-digit hike in property taxes, but through careful consideration of mandated services and County priorities – and dipping significantly into our fund balance – we have reduced the proposed increase to 9.1%.”
The $305,746,606 budget, as currently proposed, is less than 1% higher than 2025’s Adopted Budget.
“The proposed tax increase is due to rising, inflation-fueled costs and an estimated $5 million-plus decline in sales tax revenue versus what was anticipated in 2025,” explained Potosek. “The projected 5% reduction in that revenue alone constitutes 6.7% of the 9.1% property tax increase.”
Full details of the budget are available via a digital budget book at https://county-sullivan-ny-cleardoc.cleargov.com/17771 (also accessible through www.sullivanny.gov).
“This is more than an online budget viewing tool,” noted Potosek. “It allows users to easily search for information, quickly find what they’re most interested in, and generate their own charts and graphs. It is an interactive way of understanding our most complex fiscal document.”
Highlights of the Tentative 2026 County Budget include:
- $15 million for road and bridgework throughout the County, approximately half of which will come from State and Federal sources
- $1.3 million for capital projects at SUNY Sullivan, including the installation of long-needed elevators in the Paul Gerry Fieldhouse
- $683,000 to create a state-of-the-art records sharing system amongst the District Attorney’s Office, the Division of Public Safety, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office and local police agencies
- $500,000 to continue the highly successful and life-changing Sullivan Promise scholarship program, paying two years of tuition at SUNY Sullivan for local high school graduates
- $150,000 to design a revenue-generating composting facility near the Monticello Transfer Station
- $100,000 for the Sullivan County Land Bank to continue rehabbing dilapidated properties
- $50,000 to renovate the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Monticello, including a second camera to take license pictures
- $50,000 to rehab sections of the growing and popular O&W Rail Trail network
- $30,000 for a community water testing initiative
“This proposed budget also retains funding for the services and programs that impact residents’ lives every day, from Public Health to the Office for the Aging, from the Youth Bureau to the EMS fly cars,” Potosek explained. “Nevertheless, we are keeping as close an eye as ever on fiscal responsibility and the limits of taxpayers’ abilities, which is why I’ve conveyed to legislators and our economic development partners that it’s absolutely critical we aggressively work on attracting more taxpaying industries to the County.”
Legislators now have until December 20 to review, discuss and adopt the budget, and they may make changes to the proposed version before it is adopted.
The public can weigh in as well. Formal public hearings about the proposed 2026 County Budget have been set for Tuesday, December 2, at 5 p.m. and Thursday, December 4, at 10:45 a.m. in the Hearing Room of the Government Center, 100 North Street, Monticello. In the meantime, written comment is being accepted by Clerk of the Legislature AnnMarie Martin at annmarie.martin@sullivanny.gov or 100 North Street, Monticello, NY 12701.
