SARATOGA COUNTY — The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors voted to grant $150,000 in funding to the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation last week. This award marks the new start of a relationship between the SEDC and the county, after the county cut off all funding to the SEDC six years ago after a 35-year relationship. The county then formed the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership to compete with the SEDC.
This funding also marks a new beginning of economic development reform for the county. “We’ve made tremendous progress, but we need to keep moving forward,” said Phil Barrett, chair of the county’s economic development committee. Barrett added that part of the new public service contract with the SEDC would include monthly meetings, full transparency, full budget and financial statements, a compensation schedule for employees, and a sheet to identify how and where county funds are being spent.
The Prosperity Partnership will still receive funding from the county, but it will decrease from around $775,000 to about $500,000. The SEDC will continue the progress that they’ve made in the county’s economic development. “The organization [SEDC] has a successful history of 40 years; it was successful with a contract with the county, and continued to post results in this period without a contract,” said Barrett.
