Overview
Jefferson County’s 2026 spending plan, as recommended by the budget officer, totals $362,599,610 — up $38,406,705 (11.9%) from the 2025 adopted budget of $324,192,905 — with a property-tax levy of $66,314,865 and a true-value tax rate of $5.58 per $1,000, down 4.6% from $5.85 and described in the transmittal as the lowest rate on record in the county. Sales-tax revenue is budgeted at $100.5 million.
Source: Jefferson County 2026 Tentative Budget (budget-officer recommendation).
At a glance
Headline budget
Budget summary — all funds, as printed in the tentative book (2026 recommendation vs 2025 adopted).
| Total appropriations, 2026 recommendation | $362,599,610 |
| Total appropriations, 2025 adopted | $324,192,905 |
| Increase | $38,406,705 (11.9%) |
| Total revenue, 2026 recommendation | $344,822,247 |
| Applied fund balance, 2026 | $17,777,336 |
| Revenue + applied fund balance | $362,599,583 |
| Property-tax levy, 2026 | $66,314,865 |
| Equalized taxable value | $11,890,359,160 |
| County tax rate | $5.58 per $1,000 |
Gap note: revenues plus applied fund balance ($362,599,583) fall $27 below the printed $362,599,610 total; the gap is shown as printed, not adjusted.
The transmittal notes the county is appropriating about $17.7 million of fund balance, that wages will exceed $61 million with retirement and fringe benefits adding about $36 million, and that the General Fund balance available sits at about $71 million.
Source: Jefferson County 2026 Tentative Budget, budget message and summary.
Breakdown by fund — 2026 recommendation
Expenditures by fund as printed. These detail lines sum to $362,575,967 — $23,643 below the printed $362,599,610 total; the gap is disclosed, not adjusted.
| General Fund | $271,642,384 |
| Health Insurance | $30,502,230 |
| County Road | $20,906,817 |
| Capital | $20,762,500 |
| Recycling & Solid Waste | $5,390,651 |
| Road Machinery | $4,075,956 |
| Workforce Innovation Act | $3,447,508 |
| Workers’ Compensation | $2,520,308 |
| Debt Service | $2,608,013 |
| Occupancy Tax | $719,600 |
| Sum of fund detail as printed | $362,575,967 |
Source: Jefferson County 2026 Tentative Budget, fund allocation table.
Elected officials
As named in the tentative book’s transmittal letterhead. These are appointed administrators, not the elected board; no board roster is given in the cited book extract. The county seat is the City of Watertown.
| County Administrator | Ryan Piche |
| Deputy County Administrator | Dylan Soper |
Sources & notes
- Only source used: Jefferson County, 2026 Tentative Budget Final (budget-officer recommendation, October 28, 2025). 2026 Tentative Budget.
- Sum checks (with gaps disclosed): fund detail sums to $362,575,967 vs the printed $362,599,610 total ($23,643 gap); revenue + applied fund balance = $362,599,583 vs the same printed total ($27 gap). Neither gap was adjusted.
- What is not claimed: these are recommendation figures from the tentative book, not verified post-adoption amended totals; no adopted-budget PDF was retrieved; no vote count is shown.
- Jurisdiction palette: No verified New York jurisdiction palette was on file, so this page uses the neutral Hometown Numbers dark-glass theme rather than a jurisdiction color.