Supervisor Dennis Palow has released a new tentative 2025 budget that would increase taxes by 2 percent, not 19 percent as proposed in an earlier tentative budget that was published last week. Among the expenses he cut in the new version is for ambulance service from the county.

Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow made the rare decision to speak with The Enterprise this week, offering his side of two allegations that have defined the town for at least the past few months: that he has allowed the town to drift into financial ruin, and that he meanwhile had created such a hostile work environment that three of his fellow Republican-backed town board members resigned.

Executive Director for the New York State Association of Towns Chris Koetzle laid out for The Enterprise how Berne may be able to go about enacting its current draft budget for 2025 without a board to authorize it, or vote to override the 2 percent tax cap. However, he warned that the situation was unprecedented and that it’s up to the comptroller’s office to determine how to proceed. 

After raising taxes more than 750 percent for this year’s budget, Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow — who lacks a town board after a majority of members resigned over financial and other concerns — is proposing raising taxes 19 percent to roughly $5.49 per $1,000 in assessed value, which would be the highest tax rate in more than a decade.

Genoa first partnered with Albany County in 2019 to provide on-site pharmacy services for the county’s Department of Mental Health, causing an uproar among area pharmacies who felt the partnership was impacting their business, and had been forged in a way that was, at the very least, uncouth.  

It’s been two-and-a-half months since three of the Berne Town Board’s five members resigned suddenly over concerns about the town’s supervisor, Dennis Palow, yet there’s been no meaningful updates about when the board will resume functioning, even as time runs out on the year’s budget cycle. 

The Altamont Fair will have a holiday lights show put on by Magic of Lights, a private company that produces light shows around the country. Plans to have the event organized by the Police Athletic League, which had put on a holiday lights show for more than two decades and uses the money for charity, fell through.  

Westerlo Acting Highway Superintendent Dave Pecylak, on the Republican and Conservative lines, is seeking voters’ approval to finish out former superintendent Jody Ostrander’s term, but is being challenged by James Brush on the Democratic line.

A Lamborghini worth more than $200,000 was destroyed in Clarksville when, during a joyride that the Albany County Sheriff described as something out of the street-racing franchise “Fast and Furious,” one of the drivers failed to negotiate a turn and the car wound up in flames on the side of the road. There were no injuries.

Democrat Janet Tweed, of Delhi, is looking to unseat Republican Assemblyman Chris Tague, a six-year incumbent from Schoharie who represents the largely rural 102nd Assembly District. The Enterprise spoke with both about their views on rural broadband, drug-addiction support, and the environment.