Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus Outlines Proposed Budget for 2026

The $1.04 billion budget includes funding for new programs, and continues Orange County’s history of good financial management

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus speaks at the 2026 budget presentation at the Erie Hotel in Port Jervis, N.Y., on Sept. 30, 2025. Oliver Mantyk/The Epoch Times

PORT JERVIS, N.Y.—Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus on Sept. 30 presented a proposed 2026 budget for the county at the Erie Hotel in Port Jervis.

As part of the proposed $1.04 billion budget, the county’s property tax rate would be reduced from $2.142 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $2.013, the Office of the Orange County Executive said in an Oct. 1 statement.

The county expects to collect $122.5 million in property taxes in 2025, according to the statement. The office said $240.2 million was collected in sales tax year to date in 2025, and it is projected to collect $412.3 million by the end of the year.

“Cutting the County’s property tax rate provides some relief to families and businesses in our County,” Neuhaus said in the statement.

“I’m proud of the teamwork across County government to deliver a budget that keeps County property taxes low while still providing high-quality services to residents. Responsible financial management has been and will continue to be a top priority.”

Initiatives funded by the proposed budget include the new GoGoGrandparent ride service program, enhanced cybersecurity measures, and the acquisition of the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center and Camp LaGuardia. The camp is set to become a county park.

Neuhaus said state mandates remain the county’s biggest challenge.

“We have mid-year state funding cuts. The first phone call I got this morning was from the governor’s office,” he said.

“We’re going to get an $800,000-plus cut. Homeland Security money has been cut. Instead of getting $800,000 plus, we’re going to get about $80,000. So that’s a huge thing. Let’s say you budgeted $1 million, and then all of a sudden it’s not coming.”

Neuhaus recalled one particularly bad mandate two years ago, when state Medicaid funds ran out, and the county was required to give the state $10 million.

What helps deal with sudden changes from the state is having a good fund balance, or a “rainy day fund,” he said.

Neuhaus credits good financial management by his administration, such as maintaining a large fund balance, for why the country can handle the mandates well.

S&P Global Ratings recently gave Orange County a high AA+ rating for “the county’s robust reserve position, positive operations, limited debt burden, and economic metrics that are in line with national peers.”

“Conservative budgeting and strict expenditure control underpin the county’s positive operating performance in recent years,” S&P said in its rating statement.

“Despite some slowdown in growth of the county’s sales tax (its main revenue), other revenues like investment income and its growing tax base, coupled with expenditure savings, have made up the difference.”