On December 10th an email was received from Dutchess County Democratic Legislators, condemning the process by which the Legislature’s Republican supermajority suddenly appropriated $25 million from the county reserve fund to finance improvements to Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls. The action was taken moments before the full budget was adopted. Claims of improper procedure and misuse of County resources were raised in the letter which you can read here.
We spoke with County Legislator and Chairman of the Legislature Gregg Pulver about the controversy.
Mr. Pulver said that the concept of major work to upgrade Dutchess Stadium dates back to mid-2021 when the owners of the Hudson Valley Renegades signed a 25-year lease to play at stadium which was built in 1994. Improvements to the dugouts, locker rooms, pitching and batting areas, a new seating area and an enclosed event space were required in the contract.
At the time the lease was signed, the improvements were estimated to cost $12.5 million and would be paid mostly by American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds from the Federal Government. In April of 2022, public criticism of that use of ARP money caused the County to withdraw that funding plan saying they would devote that money to affordable housing instead. The first bids for the project came in at about $18 million, complicating the project’s funding. The project has been put out to bid again, with bids due on December 22.
Mr. Pulver said that for the past couple months a resolution was circulated that would use $10 million from the County fund balance and a 25-year bond for the remaining $15 million. The total $25 million was considered sufficient amount to fund the project even with inflation. He stated that a few days before the budget vote on December 8, the Republican caucus decided that the project should be paid entirely from the County reserve fund, thus saving over ten million dollars in interest on a long term bond. “The Finance Commissioner, the County Attorney and the County Budget Director all signed off on the plan,” he said, adding that the reserve fund “will be $50 to $60 million after this, in the higher range of what the New York State Comptroller recommends” for a budget the size of Dutchess County’s.
The budget amendment to use $25 million for the stadium work was approved by a vote of 17-6 and the overall County budget of $587.7 million was approved 18-7. One Democrat voted in favor of both measures.
Pulver added that Diamond Baseball Holdings (BDH), who bought the Renegades in December 2021 has agreed to renegotiate some terms of the lease which should result in more revenue for the County. “I can’t guarantee that this will be totally revenue neutral for the County, but we will come close to this being revenue neutral,” he said. DBH owns several minor league teams including the Renegades which are a “high-A” team linked to the New York Yankees and the Yankees’ “Triple-A” Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders. The Renegades will play 66 home games in 2023 with Opening Day on April 7.
Turning to other topics, we asked Mr. Pulver if anything had changed in County operations since County Executive Marcus Molinaro was elected to Congress, for the 19th Congressional District. He said Molinaro will be on the job until January and that his long-time assistant, William O’Neill, will take over his position until an election in November. The Dutchess County Charter does not have a provision for holding a special election if a County Executive leaves before completing a term.
Mr. Pulver has stated that he would be interested in running for County Executive. However, he told us that, “Sue Serino is expected to announce her candidacy soon and she’s the one I would support.”