SCHENECTADY — While no one spoke during a public hearing on the Schenectady County budget, which keeps taxes stable, city residents at another hearing pleaded with council members to give them a break when it comes to the mayor’s tentative spending plan for 2026, which proposes to raise taxes by 17% and increase residential trash collection fees.
The two public hearings were held on the same night last week, just a few miles apart.
Several people at City Hall focused their remarks on the police department budget, questioning the need for, among other things, new police vehicles at a time when data on crime, often cited by city and police officials, appears to show crime going down…