Rockland County Executive Ed Day on Sept. 30 unveiled highlights of his proposed 2026 budget for the county, which was due to be submitted to the County Legislature no later than Oct. 1. Day spoke at the Robert Yeager Health Complex in Pomona.
Day in his presentation said that the new budget comes to $913.8 million, compared with the 2025 budget that totaled $876 million. The new budget does not call for a property tax increase. Last year property taxes were cut by 2%, just as they were cut by that amount in the 2024 budget.
“As we began this year’s budget process it was my intent to once again cut your taxes, we have cut them by 4% over the past two years, but unfortunately, we are facing increasing costs and great uncertainty about future state and federal funding and reimbursements,” Day said. “This is our way of still giving money back to the people, while continuing to act with caution and responsibility.”
Day did not provide much in the way of financial details during his presentation, but did note that the new budget adds $1 million to the HERROS program, which provides up to $6,000 in college tuition reimbursement to emergency volunteers. Since its inception, HERROS has reimbursed nearly $400,000 to volunteer emergency responders.
Day said that costs of pre-k bussing of school children, early intervention, health care benefits and pension contributions are increasing, but he didn’t specify by how much. He said that the county is continuing to invest in employee recruitment and training.
“Our guiding principle for crafting our budget is to deliver the most efficient services at the lowest cost to taxpayers,” Day said. “To do so we need to recruit and retain the best (job) candidates. For this reason our Department of Personnel is continuing to invest in marketing for recruitment.”
Day did not specify the size of that investment but said the county also is continuing to invest in training programs such as Emerging Leaders, which he said helps employees grow into leadership roles, ensuring the county has the talent it needs for the future.
Day said that the county’s Purchasing Division has saved $2 million over the past two years by negotiating tough but fair deals with contractors.
Day underscored that when he took office in 2014 the county was running a $138 million deficit.
“I urge our legislature to stand with me in safeguarding the money of our residents and refrain from engaging in careless spending happening in other localities, agencies, and the state and federal government,” Day said.
The timeline for adopting a budget requires the County Legislature to hold a public hearing on the Proposed Budget by Nov. 20. The County Legislature must adopt the budget by Dec. 7. If no action is taken by then, the budget is automatically adopted. If the County Legislature amends budget, Day has five days to approve or veto those changes. The County Legislature can override any vetoes with a two-thirds majority by Dec. 20 and if it doesn’t the budget is adopted with Day’s vetoes in place.
