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Allegany County accepts New York State grant by two-thirds vote and approves county audit; board hears revenue and cost updates
Summary
On Jan. 14 the Allegany County Board approved acceptance of a 2026 New York State grant for economic development with a two-thirds vote, approved the county audit and heard reported revenue gains and spending totals, including a noted sales-tax uptick and assigned counsel cost questions.
The Allegany County Board of Legislators voted Jan. 14 to accept a 2026 New York State grant for the county Office of Economic Development and approved the county audit after collective reading and a roll-call vote.
Resolution Intro. No. 17-26 — acceptance of New York State grant funds authorizing the county administrator to execute the grant agreement — was not prefiled and required a two-thirds vote to be considered. Legislator Havey moved consideration and Legislator Hanchett seconded; the motion to consider carried. The resolution was moved by Legislator Hanchett and seconded by Legislator Ricky. Clerk Brenda Rigby Realy conducted a roll-call vote; the clerk recorded 15 yes votes and the resolution was approved by the required two-thirds majority (roll call recorded in meeting minutes).
Later in the meeting the board agreed to read the audit collectively and by totals. The clerk read line-item totals for multiple program areas, reporting the grand total as $8,469,613.79. The clerk's reading included figures for general government support ($1,464,721.56), education ($31,636.15), public safety ($376,006.13), health ($389,848.99), transportation ($72,120.18), economic assistance and opportunity ($1,442,835.25), culture and recreation ($144,301.43), home and community services (reported as "22994330" in the transcript; formatting unclear), payroll and taxes ($2,755,080.85), capital fund ($674,604.30), and other funds ($888,515.65).
Legislator Healy highlighted revenue: "our sales tax for the year ended up, 10% over what was budgeted roughly. It's about $2,000,000," and said that additional sales-tax revenue could help hold the line on property taxes (Legislator Healy, SEG 401–412).
During audit discussion legislators raised the cost of assigned counsel (noted in the meeting as about $297,000) and whether portions of assigned-counsel payments receive ILS funding; members discussed court assignments and partial ILS coverage but did not resolve funding details at the meeting.
The board approved the audit by roll-call vote; the clerk recorded 15 ayes.
Next steps: the county administrator and appropriate departments will proceed with grant execution per the authorization; finance and legal staff may follow up on assigned counsel funding details as requested by legislators.
