At legislative luncheon, affordability remains strong theme
Residents, businesses worry about costs of taxes, health insurance, utilities
Photos by Tom Rivers: Kelli Nicholas Owens gave some of the highlights of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget during the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Luncheon last Friday at the Fair Haven Inn in Gaines. Owens is executive director of the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. Behind her are Lynne Johnson, the Orleans County Legislature chairwoman, and State Sen. Rob Ortt.
GAINES – Speakers at the annual legislative luncheon for the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce said costs of living and doing business in the state – from utilities, health insurance, taxes, child care – are all straining peoples’ wallets making in difficult to get ahead.
Gov. Kathy Hochul presented a $260 billion executive budget that includes $4.5 billion for childcare and also eliminates taxes on tipped wages up to $25,000. The governor’s budget does not include a tax increase and makes “unprecedented funding” in law enforcement, said Kelli Nicholas Owens, executive director of the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley said bringing down the costs to live and do business in the state should be a top priority for elected officials, especially for the governor and State Legislature. He said the state’s Medicaid program is a budget buster and some of the benefits should be reined in to reduce the costs. Medicaid provides health coverage to more than 7.5 million people in the state and costs about what Florida and Texas spend on the program combined, despite those states each having more people than New York, Hawley noted.
She provided some highlights of Hochul’s budget, including an additional $1.7 billion for prekindergarten and childcare, during the legislative luncheon last Friday that was attended by about 50 people.
“I think we can all agree that something needs to be done about childcare, especially in the rural areas,” Owens said.
Universal childcare is also an economic development issue, helping more parents to be able to work at a time when there are shortages of employees around the state, Owens said.
Hochul also is targeting fraud to lower vehicle insurance rates for New Yorkers, and aims to reduce rising home insurance costs by increasing accountability and transparency for insurers. She wants expanded discounts for homeowners and housing providers who invest in damage mitigation measures for their homes or multifamily properties.
The governor also is demanding strict fiscal discipline from utilities for lower bills.
“The governor is really trying to get to those pocketbook issues that affect everyday Americans,” Owens said.
Some attendees of the luncheon said the high costs in the state are causing people to go elsewhere.
State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt said the governor and State Legislature need to bring down the costs of living in the state, and resist bailing out Buffalo, New York City and other municipalities that get themselves into financial woes.
“The problem is everything is more damn expensive – cars, food, energy, insurance,” Ortt said.
State Sen. Rob Ortt, second from right, said Gov. Hochul and the State Legislature need to get serious about the affordability crisis in the state that is forcing many residents and businesses to flee to other states. Other speakers at the luncheon up front included, from left, Orleans County Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, and Allison Barkowski, representing Congresswoman Claudia Tenney.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley said the state needs to cut back.
“We cannot continue to be all things to all people,” he said.
He said the election of Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, as New York City mayor has concerned many in the state’s largest city and some have said they will move out of NYC. Hawley said he hopes those people will find their new homes in upstate New York, rather than another state.
Ortt would like the governor to do more to bring down costs, but he acknowledged it is a difficult state to govern and build consensus. However, Ortt said Hochul knows the small towns like Holley and Kendall and needs to be thinking more of those places when she pushes policies statewide.
Owens, the state official representing Hochul, urged the rural areas to build a strong coalition to bring a louder voice to Albany. Owens used to work for New York Farm Bureau and she saw how that organization reached legislators in Albany through its Taste of NY Reception and Lobby Day. This year it will be Feb. 9-10.
Owens suggested the chambers of commerce in rural areas band together and be part of the Farm Bureau outreach effort.
Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer, said Orleans has been able to consistently stay under the state-imposed tax cap that generally allows about a 2 percent tax increase. But Welch said the county budget continues to be dominated by state mandated expenses that are more than 100 percent of the tax levy.
The county has seen more than a million-dollar increase in one of those programs: Mental Health Law Expense 730.30, where people deemed unfit to stand trial are committed to a facility. That can cost $30,000 to $50,000 a month per person.
The “730” expense went from $57,000 in 2023 to $367,000 in 2024 (with $50,000 budgeted). This year the budget was increased to $550,000 but the county was at $1,2567,000 in 2025 with December’s bill yet to arrive. The budgeted amount for 2026 is $1.5 million. The cost used to be a 50-50 split with the state, but the state made it a 100 percent county expense.
The county has expanded its work week from 35 to 40 hours a week for county employees to help make up for a worker shortage and also to lessen the need to buy more health insurance policies, which has been another big cost on the county budget, Welch said.
“We’re trying to get as much efficiency as we can with what we have,” he said.
Tony Cammarata, Kendall town supervisor, said there has been a gradual residential push from the Town of Greece going west into Hilton and Hamlin. He expects Kendall to see residential and business growth, especially with the expansion of public water and sewer in the town.
“We’re next in line,” he said about the western migration from Monroe County.
County Historian Catherine Cooper highlighted how the county this year will be observing the 250thanniversary of the United States declaring its independence. This follows a very busy 2025 when the county celebrated its own bicentennial and also the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal.
