As I prepare for our July meetings, I thought I’d flag a couple of interesting items on the agenda.

Aside from the usual appointments to various volunteer committees and routine paperwork, we have the Dutchess Community College (DCC) budget, a fiscal update from the county, and, hopefully, a breakdown of the Q2 EMS numbers.

The DCC budget is expected to be approved, and the county’s contribution (~$17.5M) will remain flat year-over-year as rising enrollments (up 12%) and residence hall commitments (up 20%) have helped buoy the college’s fiscal position. Tuition will rise 5% to $5,250, which is still lower than the surrounding counties.

Thursday night, we will receive a fiscal update from the county administration detailing how our sales tax receipts and expenditures are matching up against our budget and tax projections. At last look, sales tax was lagging a bit behind what the administration had projected. And with the disastrous Federal budget that was just passed by Trump and the GOP, we can expect harsh budget seas ahead.

We have also been told to expect a first look at the Q2 EMS data. As you might recall, we approved $2M to help reduce ambulance response times. So far, the results have been disappointing for our area but hopefully the second quarter numbers have some good news for us.

If you want to attend the committee meetings, they begin at 5:30 pm on Thursday at 22 Market St, 6th floor. The full board meeting begins at 6:30 pm on Monday.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, reach out anytime.