In a 27-2 vote, the Monroe County Legislature approved the 2026 county budget.
The $1.6 billion plan, released by County Executive Adam Bello in November, is roughly 2% larger than the 2025 budget. But it cuts the average county tax rate by 36 cents to $5.67 per $1,000 assessed value.
Republicans Tracy DiFlorio and Virginia McIntyre voted against the budget. Both said they were concerned about spending growth over the years.
The plan includes funding for several new initiatives, many centered on public health and safety. It includes money for operations at the new Monroe County Sheriff's Office Regional Investigative Operations Center, which recently came online.
It also includes money for the launch of a dashboard that will allow the county's 17 EMS agencies to operate like a single system, a new mass public alert system that was recently rolled out, and adding an assistant district attorney and investigator to the Domestic Violence Response Team in the District Attorney's Office.
The budget also includes the construction of the 9/11 first responders memorial at Beikirch Park, adjacent to Highland Park. And it holds the fee that parents who receive child care subsidies must pay to 1%.
In 2026, SNAP recipients will face new work requirements and Medicaid recipients will face new eligibility standards, and the county will have to verify whether they're meeting them. The 2026 county budget adds new examiners to help meet the heavier administrative burden.
The federal government previously reimbursed counties for half the cost of its SNAP examiners, but it is cutting that to one-quarter of the cost. And it is assessing a new penalty tied to how often a state overpays or underpays benefits to recipients either because of a clerical error or incomplete information being provided.
Bello previously said that the penalty alone, based on New York state's error rate, could cost the county an extra $40 million in 2027.
