March 2026

Dear [Legislator Name],

On behalf of [County Name], I write to urge you to include $100 million in county fiscal relief in the enacted SFY 2026–27 State Budget.

Counties are the State's primary partners in administering state and federal programs that serve New Yorkers every day. For the core state-mandated programs alone, [County Name] contributes [$ amount] in local taxes annually — costs set largely by decisions made in Albany and Washington, not by our county legislature.

Every proposal in the current budget cycle has included significant new aid for cities, towns, and villages. Counties have received nothing comparable. The Senate proposes $302 million per year in additional AIM for New York City. The Assembly proposes $1.5 billion in new Temporary Municipal Assistance. Counties have been absent from each proposal.

Federal policy changes under H.R.1 will shift an estimated $168 million in new SNAP administrative costs to New York counties beginning October 1, 2026. [County Name]'s share of this is approximately [$ amount]. The enacted SFY 2026–27 budget is the critical window for the State to provide relief before those costs arrive.

NYSAC's request — $100 million in county fiscal relief — is a fraction of the aid proposed for other local governments this cycle. It can be structured through assigned counsel relief, preschool special education support, competency restoration costs, or direct unrestricted aid.

I respectfully ask for your support.

Respectfully,
[Name]
[Title], [County Name]

[Date]

To the Editor:

County government touches nearly every part of daily life — the roads you drive, the health department that inspects your restaurant, the 911 call that brings help when something goes wrong. In [County Name], we take that responsibility seriously. But the state budget process now underway in Albany is making it harder to deliver on that promise without raising taxes.

Here is what most people don't know: New York counties are required by state law to help pay for dozens of state programs — Medicaid, child protective services, public health, indigent legal defense, and more. We don't set the rules for these programs, and we can't control what they cost. But when the bill comes, county property taxpayers are the ones who pay it. Statewide, counties contribute more than $14 billion a year toward these state-mandated programs.

At the same time, Albany has not provided counties with direct, unrestricted state aid since 1990. The Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) program — the State's main general assistance program for local governments — has funded cities, towns, and villages for decades. Counties have been left out for 35 years.

This year, the Governor and Legislature are proposing hundreds of millions in new aid for other local governments. Counties are not in any of those proposals. Meanwhile, new federal policy changes are set to shift an estimated $168 million in new costs onto New York counties beginning this October — costs that will land directly on local property taxpayers if Albany doesn't act.

[County Name] is asking the Governor and Legislature for $100 million in county fiscal relief in this year's enacted budget — a fraction of what's being proposed for other local governments, and a meaningful step toward keeping property taxes in check for residents like you.

I urge our state representatives to make sure counties are not left out of this budget. The people of [County Name] deserve the same consideration being extended to every other level of local government.

Respectfully,
[Name]
[Title], [County Name]