The Altamont Enterprise reports that Albany County Executive Dan McCoy’s proposed $733 million budget for 2020 is $21 million bigger than the year before without a tax raise. McCoy's proposal, released Oct. 9, has a slight tax decrease, from $3.56 per $1,000 of assessed value to $3.51 per $1,000. McCoy, a Democrat, says nine mandates from the state and federal government make up 80 percent of the county’s budget: Medicaid, public assistance, child welfare, special education and pre-kindergarten, indigent defense, probation, early intervention, retirement, and youth detention. “We are encouraged by another budget with a zero tax rate increase, but we look forward to a full and complete review of the Executive’s proposal,” Republican Frank Mauriello, the county legislature’s minority leader, said in a press release. “Our priorities continue to be the same as last year — a budget that spends only what it needs to spend to provide quality services to the people of Albany County.” Read more about this story in The Altamont Enterprise.