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Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee spent their third night hearing department budget presentations, as they proceed toward action on a 2011 County budget.  Presentations tonight continued to focus on requested over-target spending—maintenance of effort requests to restore reductions, many related to staffing, that were needed to meet the County’s required 6.9% spending reduction.  Several noted that there was no way to meet the required reduction without reducing personnel.

County Administrator Joe Mareane has included some of those over-target requests in his $74.4 million tentative budget, telling Legislators that his general criteria for recommending such spending relates to his belief that the reduction would negatively affect health, safety, or core governance.

SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT:

The District urged restoration of more than $9,500 lost through the County’s 6.9% cut, not recommended by the County Administrator.  Director Craig Scutt said the District has reduced staffing through attrition and that failure to restore the funds will force a reduction in services.

FINANCE DEPARTMENT:

Finance Director David Squires said his over-target request of just over $32,000, which has been recommended by the County Administrator, would prevent reduction of employee service hours by at least 2.5 hours per person for his entire 11-person staff.

COUNTY ATTORNEY:

The County Administrator also has recommended over-target spending of more than $18,000 in the County Attorney’s budget, the bulk of that restoring funds to prevent a reduction of staff hours to meet the County’s target reduction.  County Attorney Jonathan Wood noted that every dollar for staff expense in his office prevents more than five times the expense, were functions performed by outside counsel.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE:

With outside revenues offsetting operational expense for his department and “flat” equipment lines for several years, Director of Emergency Response Lee Shurtleff told Legislators his target budget supports employee salaries and benefits, and that in his highly labor-intensive department, the only way he could meet the County’s spending target was to reduce dispatch staff by one and to under-fund a second position for a second year.  He said the reduction of more than $100,000 would put the department in a “dangerous area,” considering ongoing increases in call volume, and would increase overtime expense.  The Administrator has recommended the over-target spending, maintaining the reductions would limit the County’s ability to deliver essential public safety services.

HIGHWAY:

The Highway Division requested $485,764 in over-target spending; the County Administrator has recommended $100,000—half the amount the Division requested for its ongoing road pavement program to maintain pavement quality of county roads.  The administrator does not recommend $266,000 to restore a highway “ditching” crew, consisting of three positions that became vacant through attrition.  Highway Manager Bill Sczesny told Legislators the County because of ongoing budget constraints is falling behind on road maintenance, with negative effects on highway quality.

FACILITIES:

Over-target requests submitted by the Facilities Division include more than $56,000 to maintain an existing night cleaner and seasonal maintenance position, over-target spending recommended by the County Administrator.  Facilities Director Arel LeMaro cautioned failure to preserve these positions would have a noticeable impact and would make it difficult to achieve a satisfactory standard of cleaning and maintenance.  Also recommended in the tentative budget:  $35,000 for maintenance and repair of County buildings; more than $66,000 (both through one-time money and department rollover) to support energy-related service contracts through the Johnson Controls Energy Performance Contract; and $2,000 for service contracts for the new Health Department building.

The tentative budget recommends a $2.4 million deferred maintenance capital project, spread over three years, to support what Director LeMaro called “catch-up, backlog maintenance” of County buildings—including roofing, fire alarm, heating and ventilation systems, electrical, site, building envelope, flooring, and elevator work.  The County Administrator also recommends $100,000 in one-time funds as “seed money” for any professional studies needed to develop the program and to possibly enable work to begin before the project is bonded.

The Expanded Budget Committee has recessed until Tuesday, September 28.  On Monday, September 27, beginning at 7:00 p.m., residents will have a chance to learn about the 2011 budget and share their views with Legislators at a Community Budget Forum, sponsored by the Legislature, which will be held at the Tompkins County Public Library (Borg Warner Room), 101 E. Green Street, Ithaca.

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