Patricia R. Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman the Ulster County Legislature adopted the county's $333.8 million 2021 budget on a unanimous vote Tue., Dec. 8. The spending plan holds the line on property taxes for the ninth year in a row. Before the vote, however, lawmakers debated more than two dozen amendments, making changes to key areas of County Executive Pat Ryan's plan, including the elimination of more than $10,000 in raises for some county employees. Legislators also added funding eliminated in the Ryan spending plan for three positions in the District Attorney's Office and for two domestic violence programs run by Family of Woodstock. They also added money for a part-time fire coordinator and for a discovery coordinator within the Sheriff's Office to help that office comply with the new discovery rules implemented as part of the state's criminal justice reforms, as well as funding for a variety of not-for-profit agencies, including $12,500 for Ulster Performing Arts Center. Legislators said any additional spending in the budget would be budget neutral. Ryan called the unanimous adoption, "an overwhelming vote of confidence after one of the most difficult years in decades." Ryan now has five days to review the budget and either allow it to stand or veto any of the changes made by legislators. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.