Referred to: The Ways and Means Committee (Chairman Gavaris and Legislators Collins, Hansut, Kovacs, Nolan, Roberts, and Uchitelle)

Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, John Gavaris, and Deputy Chair Kevin A. Roberts offer the following:

WHEREAS, this Resolution has been submitted at the request of the County Executive on behalf of the Department of Finance, Division of Recovery and Resilience; and

          WHEREAS, this Resolution seeks to roll over Ulster County funding approved in the 2024 Operating Budget to the 2025 Operating Budget for the Agricultural Crisis Relief Program, Main Streets Program, and Automatic External Defibrillator Program; and

          WHEREAS, the Agricultural Crisis Relief Program was initially funded by Resolution 400 of 2022 with federal pandemic relief grant funds as an amendment to the 2023 Operating Budget in the amount of One Million Eight Hundred Eighty-Nine Thousand Seven Hundred Two ($1,889,702.00) Dollars; and

          WHEREAS, funding for this program, in the amount above, was adopted in the 2024 Operating Budget; and

          WHEREAS, with Resolution 505 of 2024, the Legislature recognized that one million dollars of the Agricultural Crisis Relief funding would not meet a federal deadline prior to the end of the year, and authorized One Million ($1,000,000.00) Dollars of Ulster County funding in the 2024 Operating Budget to continue the funding level of the Agricultural Crisis Relief Program; and

          WHEREAS, as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, $0.00 of the $1,000,000.00 for the Agricultural Crisis Relief Program qualifies as an allowable encumbrance; and

WHEREAS, this roll-over Resolution seeks to fulfill the previous authorizations of the Legislature to provide One Million ($1,000,000.00) Dollars of funding within the Department of Economic Development for the Agricultural Crisis Relief program by rolling this amount of funding into the 2025 budget; and    

WHEREAS, the Boost for Main Streets Program was initially funded by Resolution 435 of 2022 with federal pandemic relief grant funds in the amount of Two Million ($2,000,000.00) Dollars; and

WHEREAS, Resolution No. 436 of 2022 authorized the execution of a contract with the Ulster County Economic Development Alliance from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2024 for the purpose of completing the Boost for Main Street Program in the amount of $2,000,000.00; and

          WHEREAS, funding for this program, in the amount above, was rolled into the FY2023 and FY 2024 Operating budgets; and

          WHEREAS, the contract authorized by Resolution No. 436 of 2022 was not fully executed, the authorized term has expired, and authorization is no longer valid; and

WHEREAS, through Resolution 505 of 2024 the Legislature recognized that two million dollars of the Boost for Main Street funding would not meet a federal deadline prior to the end of the year, and authorized Two Million ($2,000,000.00) Dollars of Ulster County funding in the 2024 Operating Budget to continue the funding level of the Boost for Main Streets Program; and

          WHEREAS, as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, $0.00 of the $2,000,000.00 for the Boost for Main Streets Program qualifies as an allowable encumbrance; and

WHEREAS, this roll-over Resolution seeks to fulfill the previous authorizations of the Legislature to provide Two Million ($2,000,000.00) Dollars of funding within the Department of Economic Development for the Boost for Main Streets Program by rolling this amount of funding into the 2025 budget; and

          WHEREAS, the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Program was County funded in Resolution 264 of 2024 in the amount of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand ($250,000.00) Dollars; and

          WHEREAS, this funding started a grant program to support camps and youth sports programs in Ulster County that assists these programs in complying with a state mandate for a trained adult and AED units at youth camp sessions, games, and practices; and            

WHEREAS, the grant program has been implemented and is ongoing with expenditures of Eighty-Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Eighty-Three ($89,983.00) Dollars completed in 2024; and

WHEREAS, $41,353.79 in expenditures and encumbrances as of and for the period ended December 31, 2024 have been recorded as of January 30, 2025, and the Commissioner of Finance guarantees that the remaining $48,629.21 will be recorded as of and for the period ended December 31, 2024; and

WHEREAS, as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, $89,983.00 of the $250,000.00 for the AED Program qualifies as an allowable encumbrance; and

          WHEREAS, in order to continue the AED program in 2025 and utilize the remaining 2024 funding authorization of Resolution 264 the amount of One Hundred Sixty Thousand Seventeen ($160,017.00) Dollars will need to roll over to the 2025 operating budget; and

          WHEREAS, in order to reduce administrative complexity, the County Executive has determined that funding for the AED program should reside in the County’s Department of Emergency Management; now, therefore be it

          RESOLVED, that the County wishes for the Agricultural Crisis Relief, Boosts for Main Street, and AED Programs to continue in the Calendar year ended December 31,2025; and, be it further

          RESOLVED, that the 2025 Ulster County Operating Budget is hereby amended as follows:

INCREASE                                     AMOUNT               

AA.9900.9900-3700.9990              Appropriated Fund Balance          $3,160,017.00

(Rev. #)

                                                  INCREASE                              AMOUNT

AA.8021.1087-4300.4505              Professional Services -                    $1,000,000.00

(App. #)                                             Other Fees

AA.8021.1085-4300.4505              Professional Services -                    $2,000,000.00

(App. #)                                             Other Fees

AA.3020.4095-4300.4505              Professional Services –                   $  160,017.00

(App. #)                                             Other Fees,  

and moves its adoption.

ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES:                       NOES:             

Passed Committee: Ways and Means on ________________.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

$3,160,017.00 – ADDITIONAL 2025 APPROPRIATED FUND BALANCE

$3,160,017.00 – ADDITIONAL 2025 APPROPRIATION DOLLARS