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In their second night of voting on modifications to the County Administrator's recommended 2009 County Budget, Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee recommended funding to continue Sunday hours at the Tompkins County Public Library and to fund the new Lansing Library at the same level as other county rural libraries. Tonight's actions may be modified at future meetings and will need formal approval by the County Legislature to become final.

TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY:
By a vote of 8-5, Legislators called for restoration of $20,000 in target funding which would enable the county library to remain open on Sundays, as the County's portion of an anticipated three-way partnership involving the City and Town of Ithaca. Part of the County's contribution ($8,500) would be paid through utilities accounts and $11,500 as a direct contribution. Several expressed the view that it is important to keep the library open on its most heavily used day, which is most convenient for many residents. A proposed amendment that would have put the allocation into contingency until the City and Town committed to the arrangement failed by a vote of 6-7.

 

A proposal to offset the increased funding for Sunday hours by a reduction from $50,000 to $30,000 in over-target support for library acquisitions and related staffing failed by a 5-8 vote. (The library had requested $145,000 in target funding.) The issue of the library staffing will be brought up again; Legislator Dooley Kiefer said she is prepared to advance a proposal to fund additional library staff.

 

RURAL LIBRARIES:
After considerable discussion, the committee, by a vote of 7-6, recommended $29,870 in target funding for the new Lansing Library. Funding for the newly chartered library was not included in the administrator's budget. An earlier proposal to divide the allocation for rural libraries by 5 (including Lansing), instead of 4, failed by a 2-11 vote, then Lansing legislator Mike Sigler proposed one-time funding for the Lansing Library, which was first changed to $10,000 in target funding, then ultimately approved at the level consistent with other rural libraries. Also approved, by a vote of 11-2, was an $870 increase in target funding for the Ulysses Library, correcting an oversight in the initial budget request.

 

STREAM MONITORING:
By a vote of 10-3, Legislators also recommended $24,682 in multi-year funding to support a three-year program conducted by the Community Science Institute for a volunteer water quality monitoring partnership to address water quality in the Cayuga Inlet.

Other Actions:

 

A proposed $75,000 reduction in target funding for highway materials failed by a vote of 4-9. Chair Mike Koplinka-Loehr advanced the proposal, noting that over the past two years, despite significant increases, the Highway Division had failed to spend its budget allocation, suggesting the reduction could be absorbed without adverse effect. (The Division had requested $150,000 in target funding, with $100,000 recommended by the administrator.) Especially considering the rapidly escalating cost of materials, Planning and Public Works Commissioner Ed Marx characterized highway maintenance as "almost a crisis situation" and said that strides made since incorporating capital funding to shore up the County's highway maintenance program a few years ago could be negated by large scale cuts. County Administration noted that the highway budget is already reduced by $230,000 in the tentative budget, and Administrator Whicher urged that Legislators not make additional cuts.

 

A proposal to move into contingency half of more than $35,000 in funding to support a core training program for supervisors through the Personnel Department failed by a 4-9 vote.

 

Legislators discussed the idea of reducing by $10,000 recommended one-time funding to support a part-time retail training program coordinator to support the Retail Training Boutique at the Women's Opportunity Center. After discussion concerning the benefits of what was described as a one-of-a-kind program in New York State, the proposal was withdrawn.

 

Potential Tax Impact of Recommendations to Date:

In its first two voting sessions, the committee has added $53,996 in target spending to County Administrator Steve Whicher's tentative budget, which involves more than $73 million in locally controlled spending. If committee recommendations to date become final, the County's total 2009 tax levy would increase by 2.92 percent, and the tax rate would be $5.93 per thousand dollars assessed property value, a decrease of 13.6 percent.

 

Three weeks after receiving County Administrator Steve Whicher’s recommendations, Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee in a September 29 meeting began to vote on recommended changes to the tentative budget.  The package recommends more than $73 million in locally controlled spending and meets the Legislature’s goal of a no more than 3 percent tax levy increase for 2009.  Tonight’s session was the first in as many as seven committee meetings scheduled to consider modifications to the proposed budget.

The following changes to the budget were recommended.  Tonight’s decisions may be reconsidered at later expanded committee meetings and require approval by the full Legislature to become final.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT:
Restoration of $63,256 in target funding was recommended, without dissent, to support two part-time sanitarians and a director of preschool special education.  All three positions had been requested as target funding, but not recommended in the tentative budget.

HUMAN SERVICES COALITION:
By a vote of 8-3, legislators recommended that $30.000 in one-time funding for a grant support specialist serving non-profit agencies be extended to two-year funding.  The Coalition had requested position as target and the position is partially supported by private funders.  Legislator Martha Robertson maintained that with current funding challenges, agencies especially need support in looking for  outside funding.

Also by a vote of 8-3, legislators changed from one-time to target $5,000 support for Catholic Charities’ Samaritan Center.  

COUNTY ADMINISTRATION:
Legislators, by a vote of 7-5, approved $57,969 in contingency funding for staff support for County Administration to facilitate transition to a new County Administrator.  Use of the funds would be determined by new Administrator Joe Mareane, who would need to submit a contingent fund request for Legislature review to access the funding. 

YOUTH SERVICES:
Legislators recommended restoring two-year funding for two youth services positions not recommended in the County Administrator’s proposed budget – $22,400 to continue a position in the Bridges anger management and crisis service program and $6,750 to support the Learn to Earn program of the Youth Employment Service.  The vote was 11-1.

PROBATION DEPARTMENT:
By a vote of 11-1, the committee recommended $60,217 in one-year funding to continue a Systems Analyst position in the Probation Department, a position that has been one-time funded for three years, but was not included in the administrator’s budget.  Motions to fund through target and two-year funding both failed to win support.  Probation Director Pat Buechel told legislators the position is badly needed, especially to keep pace with offender internet monitoring and what she called “the changing nature of crime.”  Administrator Whicher said he believes the department has justified the need, but it is now time for the Legislature to make a decision on whether to move the position forward.

SPCA:
A $20,000 increase in target funding contained in the budget to support the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ free-roaming cat control program was reduced to $10,000, by an 8-4 vote.  The reduction would affect the SPCA’s trap-neuter-return program.  SPCA Director Abigail Smith said the program not only works to address the ever-expanding homeless cat population, but also, through vaccination, to protect the community against rabies.

ASSIGNED COUNSEL:
The committee, by a 10-2 vote, restored $25,000 in target funding to the Assigned Counsel program, replacing multi-year funding that had been included in the recommended budget as part of the proposal to move toward possible consolidation of the Assigned Counsel program with the county’s Human Rights Commission.  While consolidation, if it took place, would move the supervising attorney to Human Rights, the change would return that position to being independent, not affiliated with any department.

Other Actions:

• A proposal to remove $11,000 in over-target Board of Elections funding for the moving of voting machines and replace it with multi-year funding failed by a vote of 3-8.  Sponsor Michael Koplinka-Loehr  said he thought that, once transition to new voting machines takes place, the need  might not be  as great and could be reevaluated in future years.

 

• A proposal to replace $15,183 in recommended over-target funding for increased food costs at the jail with $5,000 in target and the remainder one-time funding failed by a vote of 2-9.  The proposal related to study of the State Correctional Services centralized “cook-chill” program for correctional facilities, Sheriff Peter Meskill, however, told the committee that program, which his department is beginning to examine, would essentially be acting as a food vendor and would not be expected to significantly affect costs, such as staffing.

Potential Tax Impact of Recommendations to Date

Before modifications were recommended, the tax levy increase proposed in the tentative budget stood at 2.55 percent.  $80,000 in unallocated revenue has been added since the tentative budget was presented to the Legislature.

In its initial night of voting, the committee added $83,256 in target spending to County Administrator Steve Whicher’s tentative budget.  If tonight’s committee recommendations were approved, the county’s total 2009 tax levy would increase by 2.78 percent, and the tax rate would be $5.92 per thousand dollars assessed property value, a decrease of 13.7 percent.

 

Committee deliberations resume Monday, October 6.

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