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Entering its fourth week of budget review, Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee heard from eight more departments and agencies, as they continued their review of County Administrator Joe Mareane's recommended 2016 County budget.

Presented Monday were proposals from the Board of Elections, the Finance, Health, Mental Health, and Youth Services Departments, the County Attorney, the District Attorney, and Rural Library Services.

Among highlights from Monday's presentations:

A more than $400,000 increase in local-dollar support for the Health Department's mandated PreK Special Education program is the largest single source of growth in the 2016 Recommended Budget.  Public Health Director Frank Kruppa told Legislators the increased number of children served and the increased intensity of the cases in the Children With Special Needs program is a major influence for his department in the year ahead.  Caseloads are rising for the program's existing Community Health Nurses, including the leadership position of Senior Community Health Nurse, which does not normally have a caseload.  Among the Health Department budget requests was more than $94,000 for an additional Community Health Nurse to help address that caseload, a request not included in the Recommended Budget.

Reporting on the Mental Health Department, Mr. Kruppa, who also serves as Interim Commissioner of Mental Health, talked of the many people served in a myriad of programs which are operating in a changing treatment and care structure. And, in response to Legislator questions, he said that, after serving for seven months in his dual role, he has no doubt that the joint approach is the direction the County should take for the long term—that having that "high-level view" of both departments is essential toward achieving synergies between the two health-related programs that will benefit this community.  As part of the Mental Health budget, the County Administrator has recommended one-time funding of more than $83,000 (out of nearly $150,000 requested) to replace five vehicles in the department's aging fleet.

As part of the Finance Department budget, establishment of a Deputy Director of Finance is recommended, at a cost of more than $119,000—for salary, fringes, and related expenses—to address a very lean staffing pattern in the department, including the sharing of high-level tasks with the Director.  Finance Director Rick Snyder said this will assist during a time of transition of his department, which will lose five positions to retirement over the next year-and-a-half.  The Recommended Budget also includes more than $73,000 in one-time funding to enable a three-month staffing overlap for each of three top positions that will be vacated in 2016.

For the Board of Elections, $123,000 in one-time funding is recommended, to ensure adequate staffing for as many as four elections during next year's Presidential election year.

District Attorney Gwen Wilkinson requests more than $41,000 to add a second, part-time Confidential Investigator to her roster, which is included in the Recommended Budget, telling Legislators that implementation of body camera protocol for officers will add significant time to handle every criminal case and create significantly more evidence for each stage of the case process.  She characterized the additional Investigator as a "legitimate first start" to address this increased workload.

For the Youth Services budget, funding is recommended to preserve a full-time Program Management position—just over $14,000 to raise target funding to half-time, with revenue from the City of Ithaca to bring the position to full-time status. $20,000 is also recommended to replace lost funding and support the Youth Works supportive employment program through Cooperative Extension.  Not recommended are a 3% cost-of-living increase requested for Youth Services agency partners, and an additional 3.3% increase for the Recreation Partnership.  As part of the County Administration budget, Administrator Mareane included $75,000 to restore some funding to the Municipal Youth Services program, but ultimately did not recommend it as part of the budget, due to changing conditions that affected capacity at the time the budget was finalized.  He said that funding, however, is an appropriate issue for consideration by the Legislature.

Rural Library Services requested over-target funding of $14,311, to begin a plan to increase staff salaries to the Living Wage, and in the case of some of the libraries, to hire additional staff.  With the breadth of services provided and challenges rural libraries face, Legislators were told the 2% increase included in the budget does not meet their demand, with current funding barely more than that received in the 1980s.

The Expanded Budget Committee has its final scheduled presentation session, when it resumes its work Wednesday, September 30.  All Expanded Budget sessions begin at 5:30 p.m., and are held at Legislature Chambers in the Governor Daniel D. Tompkins Building, 121 E. Court Street (Second Floor).

Last week Sheriff Ken Lansing submitted nine over-target requests, several of them focused on overtime expense and equipment, as well as vehicles on the Road Patrol side.  The Administrator did not recommend a requested overtime adjustment of more than $193,000 for the Road Patrol, Administrator Mareane telling Legislators that, in terms of five-year trends, the budgeted amount (without the requested increase) appears attainable.  He did, however, partially support an over-target increase in the overtime budget on the Corrections side, saying trends show more money is needed to provide a budget that is achievable.  The budget recommends $140,000 of the nearly $350,000 requested.

The Sheriff requested $78,000 to cover the increase in inmate board-out costs, of which $8,800 was recommended.  Sheriff Lansing said the seven extra jail beds are still being built, in the renovation scheduled for completion by year's end, and should have some impact.  He said medical aspects have become a real issue for Corrections, related to some difficult issues, which include mental illness and addiction.

For vehicles, the Recommended Budget includes a requested $36,000 for two vehicles for the Criminal Investigation Division and $120,000, of about $212,000 requested, for patrol vehicle replacement—Administrator Mareane said that amount, in addition to target funding, will replace four to five vehicles.  The Sheriff noted that as part of patrol vehicle replacement all computer and other equipment associated with the vehicle is replaced, as well.

Solid Waste Manager Barbara Eckstrom said this year has been a year of great program success and some serious budget challenges, and the division is maintaining a very conservative fiscal posture in 2016. The Solid Waste budget calls for the annual Solid Waste Fee to return to $56 per household rate in 2016, a $4 increase from the current year, which Eckstrom said is necessary, along with reduced spending, to address a $350,000 loss in recycling revenues anticipated in 2015, while maintaining a 10% fund balance.  Eckstrom said additional food scrap drop spots and public space recycling will be added in 2016.

For the Airport, the Administrator's budget for a second year continues to waive $126,000 in administrative fees the Airport pays the County for services provided the Airport.  Airport Manager Mike Hall told Legislators the losses for airline service, down 25% since 2012, have now plateaued, but with high load factors, and that the Airport continues to seek new hubs to address poor service reliability in the Northeast corridor.  Customer loyalty is a major focus for the Airport, he said.

Probation Director Pat Buechel told Legislators future unknowns for her department include the outcome of New York State "raise-the-age" legislation, which would raise the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18.  She said it's likely the law would result in all 16- and 17-year-olds being issued a JD appearance ticket requiring an appearance at Probation for possible Diversion Services; there could also be a future impact on staffing should caseload expand from a restructured Ithaca Community Treatment Court.

With its combined mission of healing, celebration, and dialogue; civil rights enforcement; human rights education; and fostering a grassroots/institutional safety net, the Office of Human Rights, Director Karen Baer told Legislators, balances its activities between enforcement and education, with the goal of making those impacts countywide.  As part of its budget request, the Office requested $8,750 in one-time funds (the same as unexpended funds in the current year budget) to enable staff to attend professional training/conferences, as the Office seeks to build and reestablish relations with state and federal agencies.  The Administrator recommended ongoing funding at a reduced level of $2,900.

Tompkins Community Action Director Lee Dillon thanked the County for its support and its ongoing successful collaboration with the agency.  She reported, in part, that through 19 programs and 105 staff, TCA served more than 6,500 individuals in more than 2,300 families in 2014, and that a recent independent audit show 92% of all TCA funding goes directly into program activities.

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