Secretary Hagen asked the Saratoga County Public Safety Committee on July 2 to accept a $118,900 grant from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to support prosecution of crimes against revenue.

The grant, Secretary Hagen said, “helps support work in my office, particularly as it relates to the prosecution of crimes involving nonpayment of taxes and commissions of things like Medicaid, and welfare fraud, unemployment, and workers' compensation fraud.” A county staff member then presented a pre-resolution memorandum seeking to add additional funds to an already accepted distribution (referred to in the meeting as “distribution 14 grama”) and to accept $14,656 from an aid-to-defense grant for the term April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026.

Committee members moved and seconded the resolutions during the meeting; the transcript records motions and seconding but does not provide a roll-call vote tally. The staff member said the aid-to-defense funds would “go to offset a portion of the salary of our EPDs.” The resolutions as presented would authorize the county to accept and administer the grants and to apply the aid-to-defense funds for the stated payroll purpose.

Why it matters: the grants fund county prosecution and defense-related activities tied to revenue-fraud enforcement and legal defense support for the coming state fiscal year. The transcript does not specify which exact positions “EPDs” refers to beyond the staff’s statement, nor does it show a recorded vote tally in the minutes excerpt.

Background and details: Secretary Hagen requested a “yearly resolution to accept a grant in the amount of $118,900” from DCJS and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. The staff presenter described the additional distribution and the $14,656 aid-to-defense award and gave the term dates for the latter. No further implementation details (such as grant subaccounts or hiring changes) were included in the transcript excerpt.