The county's 2027 budget cuts the tax rate 6.84 percent, a ninth straight year of cuts, while the levy edges up to $63 million

Update, October 29. The County Legislature has set its hearings. The public hearing on the tentative budget is Thursday, November 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the Legislative Chambers at 99 Troy Road, East Greenbush, and a second hearing on the Finance Committee’s proposed changes follows on Thursday, November 19 at 5:30 p.m. Both are livestreamed on the legislature’s Facebook page. The county has also posted the full 2027 tentative budget document (377 pages; our copy). Its levy table puts the Town of Schaghticoke’s share of the county levy at $3,656,538 for 2027, up $49,570, or 1.4 percent, from $3,606,968 this year. The county rate on Schaghticoke’s assessment roll, before chargebacks, goes from $24.863 to $25.256 per $1,000 of assessed value. The town’s roll is equalized at a small fraction of market value, which is why that figure is so much higher than the countywide average of $3.007. In other words, the county’s average rate cut does not reach Schaghticoke as a cut: the town’s share of the levy rises a little because the state’s equalization rates shifted more of the county’s full value here. The document also puts total appropriations at $453.4 million, local revenues at $288.8 million and appropriated fund balance at $14.3 million.

Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin presented a 2027 budget on Tuesday, October 20 that lowers the county property tax rate 6.84 percent, the ninth cut in a row since his first budget in 2019. The average county rate would be $3.01 per $1,000 of assessed value, down from $3.22 this year and $5.85 in 2018. The county puts the cumulative reduction over those years at 55.9 percent.

The rate falls because property values keep rising faster than the levy. The amount the county raises in property tax goes up, from $62 million this year to $63 million, on a tax base the county values at $20.9 billion, nearly double the $11 billion of 2018. The 2027 levy is still $1.4 million below the $64.4 million the county raised in 2018.

Where the money comes from

Sales tax carries the county. Collections were $89 million in 2018, passed $100 million in 2020 and reached $131 million last year; the county expects to top $130 million again this year and budgets $130 million for 2027, which it calls prudent. The county shares a portion with its cities, towns and villages. The Town of Schaghticoke’s own 2027 tentative budget counts on $880,000 of that sharing for its highway fund, the same as this year.

Interest on the county’s cash has become a line of its own: $8.3 million in 2024 against $3.4 million budgeted, $6.3 million in 2025, and $27 million since 2022. The county holds its highest bond ratings, Aa3 from Moody’s and AA stable from S&P.

Where it goes

The county’s complaint is the same every October: state mandates. Medicaid, public assistance, pensions and the rest cost $155 million in 2023, $183 million this year and a projected $191 million in 2027, and McLaughlin again called on the state to rein them in. He also warned that the county’s share of SNAP administration could rise by $650,000 under federal changes.

On the capital side, the release lists the renovation of the Van Rensselaer Manor nursing home as under way and runs through what the county calls its Reimagine projects: the county offices at 99 Troy Road, the Emergency Services Training Complex, four senior centers, three satellite garages and new probation, DMV and Board of Elections offices. The release does not give a total spending figure, and the county had not posted the budget document itself as of October 22.

McLaughlin used the release to take a swipe at his neighbors, pointing to a proposed 43 percent increase in Schenectady and 15 percent in Albany, and to oppose Albany’s commuter tax resolution, which he called regressive and said “unfairly penalizes Rensselaer County residents for problems they did not create.”

What it means on the January bill

Your January bill carries both the county line and the town lines. This year they move in opposite directions. The county rate drops about 6.5 percent on the average parcel, though the actual rate in Schaghticoke depends on the town’s equalization rate and will not be set until the county computes it in December. The town, meanwhile, is proposing a 17.8 percent increase in its levy, driven by the garbage district and the highway funds. On a bill where the county line is typically the smaller of the two, the town increase will outweigh the county cut for most households.

What happens next

The County Legislature reviews the budget in November. Its public hearing on the tentative budget is Thursday, November 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Legislative Chambers, 99 Troy Road, East Greenbush, and a second hearing on the Finance Committee’s changes is Thursday, November 19 at 5:30 p.m. (both noticed after this story first ran; see the update above). The legislature’s regular session is Tuesday, November 10 at 6 p.m., it holds a public forum Wednesday, November 4 from 6 to 7 p.m., and it has called a special meeting for Wednesday, December 2 at 6 p.m. In each of the last two years the budget was adopted before December.

Sources: the county executive’s October 20, 2026 budget release and October 19 advisory; the Rensselaer County Legislature events calendar and its 2025 and 2024 budget hearing notices for the usual schedule; the Town of Schaghticoke 2027 tentative budget for the sales tax sharing figure. The county had not published the budget document when this was written; figures in the original story are the executive’s. The October 29 update is from the legislature’s November 12 and November 19 hearing notices and from the 2027 tentative budget document posted by the county, pages 2 and 3 of the tax requirement section.