“THIS WILL CLEARLY PRESENT COLUMBIA COUNTY FINANCES with an enormous challenge,” said Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell of the recently adopted fiscal year 2024 New York State budget, which calls for the immediate phased-in withholding of federal Medicaid funding that had been passed through to New York counties for the past dozen years.
Beginning April 1 and extending through the end of this year, in Columbia County that adds up to $267,000 of funds that have already been included as expected revenue in the 2023 county budget. In 2024, that number rises to $356,000; in 2025, $800,000; and in 2026, $1.4 million.
In 2011, New York State made a deal with local governments that enforced a two percent limit on local property tax increases per year, while the state’s end called for it to cover any Medicaid increases. That has remained in place until now. Read more…