The Dutchess County Legislature approved a $629.4 million budget for 2025 on Dec. 9 with bipartisan support in a 23-2 vote. The amount represents a 4.73% increase from the 2024 budget of $601 million. Chris Drago, who represents the 19th District, was one of the two Legislators — along with fellow Democrat Brennan Kearney —who voted against it.
“The budget did not go far enough in addressing our cost of living, housing, climate, mental health or EMS crisis here in Dutchess County,” Drago said. “The budget falls short of delivering real solutions to the challenges we face.”
Drago had planned to propose an amendment to advance EMS regionalization but withdrew it after County Executive Sue Serino assured the legislators that her office would prioritize developing a regional EMS plan. “We will hold her office to that promise and continue to work with them to deliver a regionalized plan,” Drago said.
Regionalizing EMS would involve the county taking control and creating zones to improve coordination, reduce costs and enhance response times. “We can get people to the hospital faster and at a lower cost to taxpayers,” Drago said, “but we need the county to take the lead on greater regional collaboration.”
Serino emphasized the county’s efforts to address the EMS crisis. “We have taken a regional approach from the start to address the EMS crisis, including meeting with groups of municipal leaders to hear about the specific challenges unique to their communities and working together to find solutions,” she said. “We look forward to the launch of the county’s supplemental ambulance coverage in 2025, with a historic investment approved last week in the county budget. We will continue working closely with municipal partners across the county to ensure residents have access to the care they need and that municipalities are working alongside us to solve this crisis.”
The budget also includes funding for two initiatives Drago supported: mental health services in Rhinebeck and funding for the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE). The CCE funding will help cover administrative costs and enable the organization to apply for state grants.
County legislators approved several additional amendments to the budget, providing funding for both existing and new initiatives. These included:
- $750,000 for the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office to create a contingency fund for overtime staffing at the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center (proposed by Majority Leader Deirdre Houston).
- $500,000 for the Department of Planning and Development to enhance the Municipal Innovation Grant program with a focus on older adult programming (Houston).
- $350,000 for the Department of Public Works to repair the terminal building at Hudson Valley Regional Airport (Legislator Tony D’Aquanni).
- $100,000 for the Office of Veterans Affairs to expand the Veterans Microgrant Program (Legislator Steve Caswell).
- $100,000 to establish a grant program aiding organizations that provide meals or other services to individuals experiencing homelessness (Assistant Minority Leader Barrington Atkins).
- $75,000 for the Division of Solid Waste Management to hire a zero-waste consultant for a solid waste study (Legislator Lisa Kaul).
“Since 2018, our options for disposing of waste and recycling by sending them to other states and countries have become increasingly limited. At the same time, our landfills are reaching capacity,” Kaul said. “Solid waste is a complex and urgent problem to solve, and this study will help us make informed and fiscally responsible decisions that will ensure the health of our residents and our planet.”
Additional allocations included:
- $75,000 for the County Historian to provide mini-grants to historical societies for events commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution (Chairman Will Truitt).
- $50,000 for the Office of Veterans Affairs to expand transportation services for veterans (Houston).
- $50,000 for after-school programming grants for at-risk youth (Legislator Randall Johnson).
- $50,000 for community health services at the emergency housing facility (Atkins).
- $5,000 for the Department of Health’s Environmental Division to expand its feral cat spaying initiative (Legislator Douglas McHoul).
