Hilltowns

Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow has struck county EMS from the town’s 2025 budget, saying that he refuses to sign a contract with Albany County unless the county agrees to lower a price. 

In the final week of budget season, residents will have a clearer idea of what to expect now that towns have either adopted their 2025 budget or are awaiting a final vote. 

Harry Liddle, 94, is home safe after he went missing on Sunday morning.

Dave Pecylak, who has been Westerlo’s acting highway superintendent since this summer, won handily on the Republican and Conservative lines against his Democrat challenger, James Brush.

Republican Assemblyman Chris Tague’s re-election grants him another two years in an office he’s held since 2018. A dairy farmer with experience in local government and the private sector, Tague has promised to continue promoting rural causes in the state legislature.

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.

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.