Ulster County forum hears pleas for raises after executive veto of budget amendment; no quorum blocks formal action

KINGSTON, N.Y. — County workers, union members and several Ulster County legislators urged quick action Dec. 19 after the county executive issued a line-item veto of Amendment 31 to the adopted 2025 budget, a measure supporters said was intended to correct pay disparities affecting 64 Department of Public Works employees.

The session was unofficial because only nine legislators attended — short of the 16 needed for a quorum — so no formal motion or vote could be taken to override the veto. The chair said the forum would proceed to provide a public record of concerns and to give residents a chance to speak.

Supporters framed the amendment as an attempt to “right a wrong.” “We thought we were putting money in a box to right the wrong so that these 64 workers could be brought up even with those others,” Legislator Litz said, describing the amendment as an appropriation to address an apparent scheduling and contract interpretation error that left some CSEA workers without increases.

Public commenters described financial strain. “The HEAP guideline is $3,322 gross earnings per month,” said Tene Wood, noting that she and some county workers who hold senior positions still fall below that threshold. Bradford Williams, who identified himself as a 30-year county employee, said his monthly bills exceed his paycheck.

Some legislators urged caution on legal grounds. “This amendment was attempting to do something that I thought at the time was illegal,” Legislator Nolan said, adding that salary-setting and collective bargaining ordinarily fall within negotiated contracts and that the legislature should have sought counsel before acting.

Legislator Maloney accused the county executive and outside counsel of timing the veto and related legal opinion to frustrate the legislature’s ability to act. “This whole thing has been planned to screw you,” Maloney said, alleging that the legal opinion and communications were designed to prevent an override. The executive’s office did not speak at the forum; the transcript records the accusation but no on-the-record rebuttal during the session.

Legislator Levine noted the amendment had passed the legislature’s prior vote by a 16–5 margin and emphasized the need for a process that yields raises that are legally secure. “What I want to see is a process that is going to make sure people that need to be getting a raise get it and it sticks,” Levine said.

Minority Leader Roberts urged lawmakers to reconvene quickly. “I’m in favor of overriding a veto, and everybody else up here should be too,” he said, calling on the chair to schedule another meeting so votes could be recorded.

With no quorum present, the chair moved the session to general public comment and then closed the forum. The chair announced the organizational meeting of the legislature for Jan. 14, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in legislative chambers; any formal action on Amendment 31 will await a future meeting with a quorum.

Reporting note: quotations and paraphrases above come from the Dec. 19, 2024 Ulster County Legislature transcript of the unofficial forum. No formal motions or recorded votes related to Amendment 31 occurred during the session.