Featured image: AI-generated conceptual illustration for Mohawk Valley Voice/OpenAI. This generic household scene does not show an actual Madison County punch card or disposal facility.
News to Know | Wednesday, November 11, 2026 | Morning edition
By David Laguerre | Mohawk Valley Voice
A Veterans Day observance in Wampsville, new details in Madison County’s proposed budget, a coming disposal-card price change and an accreditation update from a Utica nursing school.
Today’s local roundup brings together four practical updates for Mohawk Valley readers. The county budget remains a proposal, the punch-card increase does not begin until January, and today’s Veterans Day ceremony has an indoor backup plan.
Wampsville plans an 11 a.m. Veterans Day ceremony
Madison County’s official calendar lists the Wampsville American Veterans Memorial ceremony for 11 a.m. today, Wednesday, November 11. The observance is at the War Memorial next to the Madison County Courthouse in Wampsville.
If the weather is poor, the ceremony will move indoors to the atrium of the county office building. The county complex is at 138 North Court Street. All times in this edition are Eastern Standard Time.
County offices are closed for Veterans Day, so residents should not combine a visit to the ceremony with plans for routine county business. The official notice also says the event will be livestreamed on Facebook. Check the county notice for updates before traveling.
Source: Madison County’s November 11 ceremony notice. The calendar confirms the event date and time but does not display an original posting date.
Madison budget proposal would raise the levy, lower the average tax rate
Madison County’s proposed 2027 budget calls for $198.66 million in total expenditures, including $17.66 million in transfers between county funds. The county says spending would rise $7.44 million, or 3.90%, compared with the adopted 2026 budget.
The proposed property-tax levy is $51.019 million, a 2.48% increase that the county says stays within the state tax cap. At the same time, the projected average full-value county tax rate would fall by 51 cents to $6.57 per $1,000 of property value.
Those figures measure different things. The levy is the total amount collected through property taxes, while the rate is applied to taxable property value. A lower average county rate does not mean every property owner will receive a lower bill.
The plan also uses $2.2 million in Oneida Indian Nation host gaming revenue to restore cuts to departmental requests and defers $2.4 million in capital improvements until 2028, according to the county.
This is a proposal, not an adopted budget. The Board of Supervisors lists the budget hearing for 11:05 a.m. November 19, with adoption planned for December 1. The county’s earlier 11 a.m. hearing on November 19 concerns the Clockville Water District and is a separate item.
Sources and next steps: Read the 2027 budget proposal, presented November 5, and the Board of Supervisors schedule. The proposal details follow our November 5 notice of the budget presentation.
Disposal punch cards will cost $27 starting January 1
Madison County’s five-punch disposal cards will rise from $25 to $27 on January 1, 2027, according to the county’s published punch-card schedule. That is a $2 increase per card.
Residents who already have cards do not need to discard them. The county says unused cards bought in 2026 or earlier will still be honored after the new price takes effect.
Cards are sold at the landfill scalehouse and participating local businesses. Check the county’s vendor list before making a special trip. This notice concerns the five-punch card price; it should not be read as a statement that every disposal fee is increasing.
Source: Madison County’s punch-card schedule and vendor information. The page gives the January 1 effective date but does not display its publication date.
St. Elizabeth nursing program retains national accreditation
St. Elizabeth College of Nursing in Utica has received continued accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing for its associate-degree registered nursing program, Mohawk Valley Health System announced on November 9.
The announcement is relevant to prospective students comparing nursing programs and to a region that relies on a trained health-care workforce. It concerns accreditation of the associate nursing program; the announcement does not specify an accreditation term or establish a new job-placement guarantee.
Students considering the program should use the college’s current admissions information to check application requirements, costs and deadlines rather than infer those details from the accreditation announcement.
Sources: MVHS’s November 9 accreditation announcement and St. Elizabeth College of Nursing.
Reporting note: This edition uses official county and institutional sources checked November 11. Budget figures are proposed, the disposal-card increase is future-dated, and the accreditation statement is attributed to MVHS.