Tracy Monell is a Republican who has represented District 4 in the Tioga County Legislature since 2009. In January 2026 he became chair of the nine-member body, succeeding Martha Sauerbrey, who led it from 2014. His current term runs through 2028, so he is not on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot.
So who is Tracy Monell, what has he done, and what do his critics say? The record runs through four elections in a two-seat district, three years as deputy chair, a 2026 budget that stayed within the state tax cap, and a first year as chair spent on radio towers, bridges and the 2027 budget.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Republican
- Hometown
- District 4 (towns of Tioga and Nichols, parts of Owego and Barton)
- Date of Birth
- Not listed in official records reviewed
- Current Position
- Chair, Tioga County Legislature; District 4 Legislator
- Background
- Deputy Legislative Chair, 2023 to 2025
- In Office Since
- January 2009 (legislator); January 2026 (chair)
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Monell appears on the ballot as S. Tracy Monell. His district covers the towns of Tioga and Nichols and parts of Owego and Barton, according to WENY. He works from the county office building at 56 Main Street in Owego, the county seat on the Susquehanna River.
PagPol could not confirm his date or place of birth, his parents, his spouse or children, his education, or his career outside county government. His official county page lists only his title, term and contact details, and a League of Women Voters guide lists only his name and district. PagPol found no record of military service.
State Route 282 through the Village of Nichols, one of the communities in Monell’s District 4. (Photo: Mitchazenia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
THE FIRST TERMS, 2009 TO 2022
Monell took office as the District 4 legislator on Jan. 1, 2009, according to the county Legislature page. District 4 is one of two districts that elect two members, so voters choose two names and the top two finishers win. PagPol could not find the results of his first race.
In November 2011 he won the district’s second seat behind fellow Republican Loretta A. Sullivan, who drew 1,186 votes, according to official county election results. Monell received 1,082 votes and Ann Ellis, on a third-party line, received 342. His margin over Ellis for the second seat was 740 votes.
PagPol could not find official results for his races between 2012 and 2020 on the county website. In November 2021 he faced no opponent from another party. He led the field with 1,518 votes, and Republican William Jake Brown won the second seat with 1,411, according to the county’s 2021 results.
DEPUTY CHAIR, 2023 TO 2025
In January 2023 Monell was named deputy legislative chair under Sauerbrey, then in her tenth one-year term as chair, according to the Legislature’s annual report. He was also appointed to the Legislator Vacancy Committee. That year the body adopted 538 resolutions and five local laws.
In May 2023 Sauerbrey issued a local emergency order on possible incoming migrants from New York City and renewed it weekly. The county said it lacked the resources to support an influx of people, and Sauerbrey declined to comment, according to WENY. PagPol found no statement or vote from Monell on the order.
In June 2023 New York City sued about 30 counties over such orders, naming Tioga County and Sauerbrey. The city’s suit said the counties “have sought to wall off their borders,” according to Spectrum News. The county was still issuing such declarations in August 2024.
Courthouse Square in Owego, the Tioga County seat, where the Legislature meets. (Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
On Jan. 2, 2024, Legislator Ron Ciotoli nominated Monell for another year as deputy chair and Brown seconded. Every member voted yes, according to the organizational meeting minutes. Asked for any conflicts of interest, Monell answered, “I have no disclosures.” William Standinger was again named Republican majority leader.
In December 2024 the Legislature adopted a 2025 budget of $103,270,291, up 0.7 percent, with a property tax levy of $26,887,599, according to a county 2025 budget release. On Jan. 2, 2025, members again voted unanimously to make Monell deputy chair for the year.
Sales tax is the county’s other big revenue stream. Collections were $33,288,309 in 2023 and $31,793,185 in 2024, a drop of about $1.5 million, or 4.5 percent. The county shares 25 percent of collections with its towns and villages and keeps the other 75 percent, about $23.8 million of the 2024 total.
THE 2025 ELECTION AND BUDGET
In 2025 two seats turned over. Dennis Mullen of District 5 is now director of veterans’ services and Barbara Roberts of District 3 is county treasurer, Monell later noted. In November Monell and Brown were the only names on the District 4 ballot for two seats, according to the county’s ballot listing. PagPol could not find the certified totals.
Under the state’s even-year election law, upheld by the state’s highest court, the 2025 winners received three-year terms instead of four, according to October worksession minutes from 2025. At that meeting legislators agreed by unanimous straw poll to stay within the 2.09 percent tax cap. Monell asked about the deadline for spending federal pandemic aid.
On Dec. 9, 2025, the Legislature adopted a 2026 budget of $109,596,570, up 6.1 percent, according to the county’s 2026 adopted budget. The levy rose 2.09 percent to $27,450,883, the 14th straight year without a tax cap override. The county rate came to $6.64 per $1,000, or about $664 on a $100,000 home.
THE CHAIRMANSHIP, 2026
In January 2026 the Legislature elected Monell chair, with Standinger as deputy chair. “To my fellow Legislators and citizens of Tioga County, I thank you for your continued support and confidence,” Monell said in a statement, according to WENY. As chair he presides over meetings and makes committee assignments.
On Jan. 13 he called his first regular meeting, which took up $1,628,000 for the Harnick Road bridge and a federal USDA grant of up to $1.5 million for the radio tower project, according to the meeting agenda. It also restored about $682,195 of unspent pandemic aid, out of roughly $885,386 left at the end of 2025.
On March 10 he gave the State of the County Address. “That is why I can stand in front of you today, and say, ‘the state of Tioga County is strong,'” he said, according to the county address text the county posted. He praised Sauerbrey’s 20 years of service and her work on emergency preparedness.
“One of the most significant initiatives underway is the modernization of the countywide emergency radio communications system,” Monell said. He also welcomed Andrew Aronstam, the former mayor of Waverly, Jo Ellen Rose, the new Democrat in District 2, and David Cantella, appointed in District 3 pending the 2026 election.
Village Hall in Waverly, the village once led by new legislator Andrew Aronstam, whom Monell welcomed in his 2026 address. (Photo: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
In September the Legislature’s work sessions turned to the 2027 tentative budget, according to a September worksession agenda. It will be the first spending plan adopted with Monell as chair. PagPol could not find any proposed 2027 spending or levy figures as of late October.
THE COUNTY AND THE PARTY MATH
Tioga County had 14,691 active enrolled Republicans and 7,906 Democrats out of 32,805 active voters in February 2026, according to state enrollment figures in PagPol’s Data Spine. That is a Republican share of 44.8 percent. Another 8,080 voters belong to no party, more than the number of Democrats.
Republican share of active enrolled voters, February 2026
Tioga CountyNearby Western New York and Southern Tier counties
Source: PagPol Data Spine, from New York State Board of Elections enrollment figures.
Among the six counties PagPol compared, Tioga ranked third in Republican share. The Legislature has nine members from seven districts, each representing about 5,500 people. It was entirely Republican in 2025. Rose’s win in District 2 left the 2026 body with eight Republicans and one Democrat, and the county is run day-to-day by an appointed administrator.
LEADERSHIP ROLES
As chair, Monell assigns each legislator a standing committee. For 2026 he chairs Legislative Worksessions and Legislative Support himself. Ray Bunce leads Finance, Legal and Safety, Keith Flesher leads Public Safety, Cantella leads Public Works, and Rose, the lone Democrat, leads Personnel. For other county leaders, see PagPol’s profile of Mike Hill.
Before becoming chair he served three one-year terms as deputy chair, from 2023 through 2025, each by unanimous vote. Standinger, who chairs Health and Human Services, is now his deputy. PagPol could not find which committees Monell led before 2023. For a neighboring county executive, see PagPol’s profile of Jason Garnar.
WHY HE RAN AND WHAT HE BELIEVES
PagPol could not find Monell’s stated reasons for first running in 2008 or 2009. His 2026 address offers his clearest statement of priorities. “The work of county government is not always visible to the public, but it is essential to maintaining the safety, stability, and quality of life that our residents rely upon,” he said.
“We are a largely rural, agriculture-based community with a small population but a strong identity,” Monell said of the county. He named public safety, roads, bridges, public health, elections and veterans’ services as core county jobs. “Public safety also remains a top priority,” he said in the same March address in Owego.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
PagPol could not find a campaign committee for Monell in state Board of Elections filings, and his 2021 and 2025 races drew no opponent from another party. County races are not eligible for state public matching funds. In recent years county spending has grown faster than the property tax levy.
From 2025 to 2026, spending rose from $103,270,291 to $109,596,570 while the levy rose from $26,887,599 to $27,450,883. Over the longer 2021 to 2025 span, Tioga’s levy grew 7.7 percent, the third-largest increase among the seven counties PagPol compared, behind only Erie and Chautauqua to the west.
Change in county property tax levy, 2021 to 2025
Tioga CountyNearby counties, increaseDecrease
Source: PagPol Data Spine, from state comptroller county property tax levy data.
To close the gap in 2026 the county planned to use $6,121,997 of unassigned fund balance and $2,624,012 of capital reserves. The county administrator wrote that state-mandated programs equal “over 113% of the County Tax Cap.” The county administrator estimated the fund balance at about $40.3 million for the end of 2025.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
PagPol found no ethics complaints, lawsuits or personal controversies involving Monell, and no named critic of him personally. The county’s most contested recent action, the 2023 migrant emergency order, came under Sauerbrey and drew New York City’s lawsuit. PagPol found no record of how Monell voted on it or what he said.
Critics have aimed instead at the one-party Legislature he now leads. In 2021 Democrat Irena Raia, running in District 1, wrote that “every single one of our county level officials are Republican, only two are women, and none are under 50,” according to the Ithaca Times. She lost to Republican Ron Ciotoli, 824 votes to 439.
Monell missed a January 2025 hearing on the treasurer’s salary, where no members of the public spoke. In October 2025 legislators reviewed a draft nepotism policy requiring disclosure of family ties in county hiring, according to the worksession minutes. PagPol found no allegation tied to Monell and could not confirm whether the policy was adopted.
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Monell has pledged to “invest responsibly in our infrastructure and services.” The 2026 budget, adopted weeks before he became chair, raised spending 6.1 percent while holding the levy increase to 2.09 percent. It did so by drawing about $8.7 million from fund balance and reserves, according to the county’s adopted budget.
The Tioga County Memorial at Courthouse Square in Owego. (Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
He called the radio system one of the county’s most significant projects, and his first meeting as chair took up a federal grant of up to $1.5 million for it. On his claim that the county is strong, the state comptroller designated no New York county as fiscally stressed for fiscal year 2025.
STATE COMPTROLLER AUDITS IN THE DISTRICT
A July 2026 Owego records audit by the comptroller found that Village of Owego officials did not keep complete, accurate and timely records. It found $3.2 million in note revenue that was never recorded and about $4.2 million in total misstatements across 31 unreconciled bank accounts, and it made nine recommendations.
The same audit found the village’s annual financial reports for five years were filed 595 to 848 days late. In November 2025 a follow-up audit of the Newark Valley Fire District found two of five earlier recommendations implemented, one partly done and two not implemented.
The comptroller’s 2025 fiscal stress report designated no county in stress for the fifth straight year, so Tioga County carries no stress label. The Village of Owego has not filed in time to receive a score in any year from 2015 through 2025. PagPol found no recent audit of county government itself.
LOOKING AHEAD
Monell is not on the ballot this November, though the District 3 seat is. The Legislature must adopt its 2027 budget in December and set new staggered terms under the even-year election law by year end. For more, visit PagPol’s Tioga County page or subscribe to the Tioga County newsletter.
