Issue #043 · LatestTuesday, October 27, 2026 · Carmel · Cold Spring · Mahopac · Nelsonville
County budget heads to a Wednesday vote with the tax levy down $6.5 million, Carmel sets $4.5 million for fire and EMS, and Putnam's first roundabout gets its first $1.5 million
Free local email · written by Catherine Rosado · 4-minute read
The numbers first, because they are the largest part of the story. County Executive Kevin Byrne's proposed budget totals $229 million and would cut the property tax levy from $45.2 million to $38.7 million, a reduction of $6.5 million, or more than 14 percent. Monday evening's public hearing drew seven of the nine legislators, with William Gouldman of Putnam Valley and Erin Lee Crowley of Mahopac absent, and ten residents addressed the board.
What they asked for clustered around services. Speakers pressed for after-school programs for children and support for the Depot Theater in Garrison. Cathy Percacciolo, who has worked at the Putnam Health Department for four decades, asked lawmakers to fully fund the Supervising Public Health Nurse position. Martha Elder, executive director of Second Chance Foods, told the legislators her agency runs on a $2.3 million budget and that food insecurity in Putnam remains severe. Cassandra Roth, chair of the county's Soil and Water Conservation District, described the new district as a way to expand outreach and conservation help for working farms and watershed protection.
One more decision happened at the same hearing: the legislators set their own 2027 compensation at $49,618, with the chair receiving an added $12,405. Adoption is expected at a special meeting Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse in Carmel. If a budget line matters to you, the tentative budget is on putnamcountyny.gov, and Wednesday's meeting is open to the public.
The questions Putnam searches this week, answer first, source after.
What do Carmel's $4.5 million in 2027 fire and EMS contracts pay for?
Five departments, and the amounts are not evenly divided. The Mahopac Fire Department is in line for close to $1.8 million, Carmel $1 million, and Mahopac Falls $990,500; the Carmel Volunteer Ambulance Corps would receive $568,500 and the North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps $13,200 for covering a small section of town near the Westchester border. The three fire departments are volunteer staffed, while the ambulance corps rely on paid staff and volunteers together because call volume runs high in the county's largest town. Nothing is final yet: the Town Board holds its public hearing on the contracts at the November 18 meeting, which is the point where a resident can speak up.
The project has its first state money; construction has not started. New York has appropriated $1.5 million, 15 percent of the $10 million cost, for a roundabout at Stoneleigh Avenue and Drewville Road in Carmel, the main access route to Putnam Hospital Center. Assemblyman Matt Slater and Congressman Michael Lawler both framed it as a safety project for patients, families and first responders, and County Executive Kevin Byrne called the intersection a long-running safety concern. The timeline reality is that years of local, state and federal work got the project this far, so the intersection will work the way it does now while design and construction move ahead.
Back at the farm, with her calf. The four-year-old Highland cow got out of her enclosure at Little Cabin's Farm in Carmel on October 20 and spent four days on the loose, spotted trotting along local roads while officers from multiple agencies tried to bring her in; at one point an officer attempted a lasso from a patrol vehicle. Neighbors tracked her on Facebook the whole time, sharing sightings and videos until officers returned her to the farm. Her owners, Mariana and Stephen Brophy, have her back home, and the pregnant cow is recovering from her excursion.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: build a voting plan with an assistant before the nine-day early voting window closes.
Two places can take your early ballot: the Board of Elections at 25 Old Route 6 in Carmel and the American Legion at 10 Cedar St. in Cold Spring. Hours shift by day, noon to 8:00 p.m. today and Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. the rest of the week. Pull the schedule from boe.putnamcountyny.gov, paste it into an assistant, and ask it to match the remaining hours against your week, then pick a day and a site.
Two checks before you go. The Board of Elections says several polling locations have been permanently changed, so confirm where you vote with the polling place locator on its site, and remember that anyone who votes early does not vote again on Election Day. Assistants misread tables now and then, so keep the Board of Elections page open while you plan and treat the assistant as the draft, the county page as the source.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corners.
The Dates-Ahead Calendar
Early voting runs noon to 8:00 p.m. today, the second of the week's two evening sessions; Thursday is the other
Board of Elections, 25 Old Route 6, Carmel, or American Legion, 10 Cedar St., Cold Spring · boe.putnamcountyny.gov
Early voting runs 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; the Legislature is expected to adopt the 2027 budget at a special meeting at 7:00 p.m., open to the public
Early voting: both county sites · Meeting: Historic Courthouse, Gleneida Avenue, Carmel · putnamcountyny.gov
Early voting runs noon to 8:00 p.m.; the county executive also holds public hearings at 3:30 and 5:00 p.m. on the proposed charter change about the vote needed to override certain budget vetoes (Reso #262); written comments can go to the Legislature, Room 318, 40 Gleneida Ave., Carmel
Early voting runs 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the eighth of nine days; it is also Halloween, so daytime hours leave the evening free
Board of Elections, Carmel, or American Legion, Cold Spring · boe.putnamcountyny.gov
Last day of early voting, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at both sites; after today the next chance to vote is Election Day itself
Board of Elections, Carmel, or American Legion, Cold Spring · boe.putnamcountyny.gov
General Election Day, polls open 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; anyone who voted early does not vote again today, and early voting results are canvassed after 9:00 p.m.
