NORWICH – Chenango County legislators favored adoption of the 2014 county budget on Tuesday, calling for a slight tax increase and $2.8 million from reserves to satisfy financial precepts.

County supervisors and department directors met at the supervisors’ chambers in the Chenango County Office Building Tuesday night for a public hearing on the 2014 tentative budget. The plan calls for a 20 cents per $1,000 assessed value property tax increase (1.56 percent) – less than the 30 cents per $1,000 implemented in the 2013 budget. The latest tax increase falls marginally short of the state mandated 1.66 percent tax cap by $8,690.

Having no one speak during the public hearing, it was declared closed by Board Chairman Lawrence Wilcox and went to vote among the 17 board members present (six were absent). It passed unanimously.

According to Chenango County Treasurer William Craine, the document reflects the county’s objective to have a balanced budget using reasonable revenue and expense expectations. Additionally, it allows the county to remain one of only four counties in the state to be debt-free, he added.