Property tax increases coming as part of proposed 2025 Chemung County Budget

ELMIRA, N.Y. ( WETM ) — An increase in the general fund tax levy, a rise in property taxes, and raises in salaries to county employees are just some of the highlights in Chemung County Executive Chris Moss' 2025 proposed county budget.

The $318 million proposed budget features a 2.5% property tax increase and a 13% increase to the tax levy from the 2024 budget. For 2025 the levy would increase to $30,307,200 from the $26,826,921 set for 2024. As for the tax rates, rates have gone up to $4.92 on every $1,000 the property is worth compared to the $4.80 in 2024.

Moss pointed out that the levy decreased in 2023 as the Chemung County Legislature reduced the levy by around $5.5 million. In doing so, this decrease created a reoccurring structure deficit that had to be addressed in 2024 and 2025. Moss said that as the levy increased, so did operating expenses and other factors. Such factors include:

These expenses take up much of the tax levy, with the Medicaid Weekly Share accounting for 67.8% of the levy, which is among the highest rates in the state at $79,111,671, according to Moss.

The county has figured in some capital projects planned for 2025 with improvements to county highways, the Elmira Corning Regional Airport, the sewer system, government support, and other transportation.

A breakdown of the costs of those can be found below:

Aside from capital projects, county personnel will see an increase in their salaries as the budget proposes to spend $68,138,554 on payroll, an increase of $2,394,131 or 3.64% from 2024's recommended total of $65,744,423.

The remainder of the proposed budget highlights can be found in the document below. A public hearing is planned to discuss the budget on Nov. 25, at 6:45 p.m. in the chambers of the Chemung County Legislature. The meeting can be found on the fifth floor of the Hazlett Building at 203 Lake St. in Elmira.