ALBANY, N.Y. — Senator Patricia Fahy (D–Albany) released the following statement in response to reporting from the Albany Times Union today on the future of the City of Schenectady’s municipal court facilities and the Office of Court Administration’s (OCA) comments:

“The recent withholding of Schenectady’s state aid at the direction of the New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA) is deeply troubling and undermines work on how best to ensure safe and modern court facilities in Schenectady. Mayor McCarthy and local officials have attempted to work with OCA to find a path forward that respects both the need to renovate Schenectady City Court while safeguarding precious taxpayer dollars.

To see more than $10 million in state aid intercepted at the request of OCA without meaningful engagement is, at best, an overreach, and erodes trust in OCA’s ability to partner with local governments. It also threatens the financial stability of a City that is already navigating serious economic challenges.

Schenectady residents and taxpayers deserve a solution that balances public safety, legal compliance, and fiscal responsibility. To threaten fiscal stability without first exhausting all avenues of communication is counterproductive.

It is also important to remember that Schenectady is not alone: OCA continues to raise concerns about both the City of Buffalo and the City of Albany to construct new court spaces when they have well-documented and significant fiscal stress. Neither Buffalo nor Albany has the financial capacity, and they have limited bonding authority to afford a new courthouse costing over $50 million without state support. Requiring these cities to choose between building state-of-the-art courthouses and keeping police on the beats or firefighters in the firehouses is an impossible position to put our cities in, particularly when they already have overwhelming fiscal burdens due to the large amount of tax-exempt property owned by New York State.

I am drafting legislation that ensures municipalities have a fair and transparent process to balance fiscal realities with the facilities needs of the court system. Rather than allowing OCA to withhold critical state resources, putting cities further from facilities compliance and risking municipal financial health, we must pursue a process that doesn’t punish local governments for their limited financial options.

I will continue to work with Mayor McCarthy and the OCA, as well as my colleagues in the State Legislature, to find a common-sense path forward. Local governments should not be left at the mercy of unilateral decisions that jeopardize payrolls, essential services, and economic stability.”

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