This morning County Executive Chris Moss gave a presentation to local government officials, business leaders and the media highlighting certain aspects of his proposed 2020 budget. Moss’ presentation kicked off the budget season in Chemung County, an important undertaking that is particularly critical this year as Moss and almost half of the legislators are in their initial year of service and will be going through this process for the first time.

Overview of the Budget Process

Under Chemung County’s charter, the county executive is required to furnish the legislature with a copy of the proposed budget each year by November 10th. The charter requires the legislature to send a report back to the county executive with its findings, questions and/or recommendations no later than November 25th. Throughout that time the legislature typically holds several budget workshops in order to work through the document. With a budget of estimated to be around $200 million dollars this year, the legislature needs as much time as possible to do its due diligence to both county government and the community at large.

Over the past few decades a tradition developed whereby legislators were provided copies of the proposed budget on the Thursday after Election Day, even if that date was well before November 10th, in order to give legislators time to analyze and understand the budget before the workshops begin.