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ELIZABETHTOWN - Joyce Morency is stepping down as chairwoman of Essex County's Finance Committee due to "serious health issues and upcoming medical treatment."

Morency said in her resignation letter that she will continue to serve as St. Armand town supervisor and will be as active on the county Board of Supervisors as possible. Her resignation as finance chair takes effect today.

"Joyce is always putting Essex County's needs before her own," Board of Supervisors Chairman Randy Douglas of Jay said in a prepared statement. "Joyce knew she would not be able to give the 2011 budget process 100 percent during her recovery and graciously stepped away."

Douglas is currently working from home, recovering from back surgery. He and board Vice Chairman Roby Politi of North Elba will meet at 9 a.m. in Elizabethtown Monday to discuss Morency's replacement, which will be announced an hour later at the full Board of Supervisors meeting.

Politi is also vice chairman of the Finance Committee.

Morency has been St. Armand supervisor since 1981 and has chaired most of the county's committees at some point. She was county budget liaison officer for six years, and she was appointed the board's first woman chair in 1994.

Finance is one of the board's most important committees, and Essex County faces a tough 2011 budget year, which supervisors are planning for now. County officials are looking at a number of ways to save money to close an anticipated $8 million deficit without raising property taxes too much, including cuts at or privatizing the Horace Nye Nursing Home, raising sales tax, closing the county fish hatchery, reducing the number of county workers and wage freezes.