{"id":107599,"date":"2025-09-17T09:35:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T13:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=107599"},"modified":"2025-09-17T09:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T13:35:20","slug":"tioga-county-legislators-discuss-outside-agency-funding-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/09\/17\/tioga-county-legislators-discuss-outside-agency-funding-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Tioga County legislators discuss outside agency funding for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matt Freeze —<\/span><\/p>\n

OWEGO \u2014 Tioga County Legislators had lengthy discussions Thursday regarding funding for outside agencies as they worked their way through their 2026 county budget proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

While funding increases were approved, legislators discussed trying to balance community needs while also mitigating a ballooning budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators told department heads and agencies to aim for a 0% increase if at all possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tioga Opportunities requested $122,670 from next year\u2019s budget, representing an increase of $381.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the nature of their work in the community and the negligible increase, legislators agreed with the request.<\/span><\/p>\n

A New Hope Center requested a $47,000 increase, making for a total of $60,000. The center gets the majority of its operational funding from grants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators discussed the fact that the state had pulled back funding from the Office of Domestic Violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislator Tracy Monell said that the work done by them is a substantial benefit to the community, and that if the county had to pick up the work they do, it would cost significantly more than $60,000 per year.<\/span><\/p>\n

County Social Services Commissioner Shawn Yetter and County Probation Director Brain Cain confirmed that, and said that they\u2019re instrumental in helping with domestic violence issues throughout the county.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey come right in with an advocate and work with the person on site for us, and help with taking them to shelters,\u201d Cain said. \u201cWe call them on numerous occasions when we need them to come over for a victim, or something going on in our office. They also run the shelter, and they\u2019re also the 24-hour hotline for domestic violence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also become extremely important in providing services at the child advocacy center, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe list just goes on and on, what they provide,\u201d Cain said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislator Keith Flesher said their work is critical, and legislators unanimously agreed to approve their request.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding library funding, Bailey said countywide, they\u2019re looking for a total of $76,284, with a $1,300 increase specifically for the Berkshire Free Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flesher, who represents the northern district of the county, recommended rejecting the increase.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey ask every year, and I probably say the same thing every year,\u201d he said. \u201cRichford and Berkshire can afford that $1,300 increase \u2014 the problem I have is coming to the county asking for money. We\u2019d be pulling from the pool of all the county residents to pay for 7,000 residents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Monell said he isn\u2019t familiar with the situation, so Flesher\u2019s insight \u201ccarries a lot of weight\u201d in his mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators ultimately declined the increase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Discussion moved on to historical society funding, with the county historical society asking for $10,000, which represents an increase of $4,730 from this year\u2019s budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bailey said the funding increase is to help expand some of their programming.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislator Barb Roberts said she\u2019s against it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been asking all of our department heads to have a 0% increase, and there\u2019s certain things that are vital to all the residents in the county, and as far as containing costs and holding to a 0% increase,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cNot that I don\u2019t value history, I love it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Monell said the important thing to consider with budget increases is that once they increase their contribution of tax revenue to these agencies, that\u2019s considered the new baseline every year going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislator Bill Standinger said he wouldn\u2019t object to a couple thousand thousand-dollar increase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators chose to give the county historical society roughly half of their ask with a 5-to-3 vote, bringing their total funding from $5,200 this year to $7,200 next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators Andy Aronstam, Sauerbrey and Roberts voted no.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislator Ray Bunce was not in attendance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRay would vote no because he\u2019s trying to save money all the time,\u201d Monell said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bailey said the county tourism department rescinded its initial request of $190,000 and instead requested the same amount as this year: $170,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

County Soil and Water requested $316,715, representing a 10% increase of $33,519.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sauerbrey recommended a 5% increase instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislator Jake Brown said Soil and Water staff are always a huge help when it comes to flooding events in the county.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were right there on the ground in Newark Valley when all that water hit,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Monell said a lot of their federal funding is in flux lately, and Sauerbrey said the county has been \u201cvery good to them for many years\u201d and that legislators will have to take all of this into consideration in future years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bailey moved on to the Tioga County Agricultural Society, which asked for $10,000; this includes an increase of $2,935.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown said they\u2019ve improved significantly over the last several years and pointed out that they\u2019ve done a lot for local agriculture and the county fair.<\/span><\/p>\n

Standinger said he\u2019s in favor of whatever Brown recommends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislator Ron Ciotoli said the money is a worthwhile investment when considering the local revenue generated by fair attendees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flesher said he thought a 42% increase was a bit excessive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Monell recommended a 10% increase, for a total of $7,772.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA 42% increase is ridiculous,\u201d Monell said. \u201cLike Barb said, we\u2019re trying to keep everybody at zero, and I know this is hard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Aronstam said all the requests are for good purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of, \u2018How do we be good stewards of our taxpayers\u2019 money and how are we going to spend it?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a juggling act.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sauerbrey said that no one really knows what the next couple of years will look like in terms of state or federal funding or what surprises may be in store.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roberts said that historically, the Legislature has stuck really closely to a no-increase policy where possible, which has helped keep the county\u2019s finances away from any problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators agreed on the 10% increase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, Bailey brought up funding for Cornell Cooperative Extension, which requested $278,027, which represents a $5,000 increase, or 2%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bailey said CCE had cuts to some of its funding.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sauerbrey said that CCE originally focused on farming and agriculture, and then, once grants came out for more social programs, they picked those services up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, that funding is going away, so they\u2019re trying to balance it out with what\u2019s changed over the years,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yetter said CCE\u2019s social programming through the Family Resource Center is very supplemental to the county\u2019s social services activity, and really helpful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Standinger asked whether the services they provide are duplicated at all by what the county provides. Yetter said they are not.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re another critical service that\u2019s been offered in the community that they do outside all their agricultural-based stuff,\u201d Yetter said. \u201cWe don\u2019t run anything like that, but this is an opportunity for them to do these types of things to interact with parents and kids.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Flesher asked if the $5,000 increase is necessary when they also asked for a $5,000 increase last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bailey said CCE cited the reason for the request was increased wages, as well as support for 4-H and agriculture programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legislators agreed on a 1% increase, or $2,500.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flesher said they should set aside minutes from this year\u2019s discussion so they can look back on what the comments and concerns were this time while they\u2019re considering the 2027 budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Matt Freeze is a Senior Staff Writer with the Morning Times)<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matt Freeze — OWEGO \u2014 Tioga County Legislators had lengthy discussions Thursday regarding funding for outside agencies as they worked their way through their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":94125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government"],"yoast_head":"\nTioga County legislators discuss outside agency funding for 2026 - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/09\/17\/tioga-county-legislators-discuss-outside-agency-funding-for-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tioga County legislators discuss outside agency funding for 2026 - 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