NORWICH – Chenango County legislators are entertaining a suggestion to surpass the state-mandated tax cap for the 2026 fiscal year, but they’re calling for a public hearing to gather input from taxpayers first.

The hearing will be held at 10:40 a.m. in the Supervisors’ Chambers of the Chenango County Office Building on August 11, with the aim of getting public input on a proposed tax cap override before tabling the motion until later this year.

A resolution authorizing a public hearing passed the Chenango County Board of Supervisors earlier this month, but not without dispute from select officials who argued the measure sends a clear and troublesome message to taxpayers.

“You may not have a mortgage, but I’ll tell you what: If you don’t pay those taxes, then you don’t own that property. This is literally a rent we pay to the government,” said Norwich City Supervisor Robert Jeffrey.

Jeffrey pulled the resolution for discussion at the July meeting of the Board of Supervisors, forcing a roll call vote where he, along with supervisors from the towns of Smyrna and Columbus, voted against it. If ultimately approved, this will be the second consecutive year that the county has rejected the tax cap.

Jeffrey alluded to factors that he says currently place the county in good financial standing, including a 2024 surplus of $2.5 million ($1.7 million of which has already been appropriated), projections of $1.4 in sales tax revenue in 2025, better-than-expected investments due to interest rates, and expectations that NYS Gov. Kathy Hochul will ultimately sign a bill, passed by both houses of the state legislature, omitting emergency medical services (EMS) from being calculated in the tax cap.

All that, Jeffrey said, should be utilized without adding more burden to taxpayers.

“I don’t think it’s called for,” he said. “I think we’re doing healthy financially, and very sound.”

The resolution calling for a public hearing was put forward by the county’s finance committee which took up the issue earlier this month. The proposal came at the request of supervisors who argued that a public hearing to override the cap for the $95.5 million 2025 budget came too late in the game last year.

Finance committee members say a public hearing won’t automatically override the cap, but it will put the county in a better position to do so if needed between now the budget deadline at the end of the year.

“It’s a very tight window,” said County Treasurer Bill Craine, adding that there’s a risk to having a late public hearing as a budgeting deadline draws closer. Even so, he said he’s “optimistic” about staying under the cap. “If we have a combination of robust sales tax and some relief on EMS, I think there’s an excellent chance that we meet the tax cap.”

“Sometimes there's objection on the floor to this public hearing to override. The fact is, we’re only preparing ourselves in case we ever need it,” said City of Norwich Supervisor Jim McNeil, a sitting member of the county’s finance committee. “I have a comparison: Does anyone have a fire extinguisher in their house? Thank God you have one; I hope you never have to use it.”