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Members of the County Legislature had a chance to communicate their concerns about how the New York State budget could affect Tompkins County, as they met with one of the members of the County’s State legislative delegation.

Legislature Chair Martha Robertson, five other County legislators and County Administrator Joe Mareane discussed their concerns, as they met with State Senator Thomas O’Mara (51st District) in Ithaca on Thursday.

Days after a property tax cap bill passed the Senate, the County officials asked that any tax cap be coupled by real mandate relief—a shift of cost in current mandates, not simply future mandates, from county to state government, with Administrator Mareane pointing out that, for Tompkins County, the 2012 mandated cost of Medicaid and employee pensions alone would be nearly three times an anticipated $650,000 cap on the growth in the tax levy.  Regarding Medicaid, Chair Robertson suggested the State establish a firm cap on Medicaid costs for counties, gradually shifting its means of support to the income tax.

They expressed concern about how provisions of the Governor’s budget, unveiled this week, could affect the County—including major changes in how social services would be funded, which could increase local costs, reduced block-grant funding for preventive service programs, and funding cuts for programs such as assessment, probation, non-core health services, and community colleges.

The officials also urged support for providing counties autonomy concerning home rule requests, which would establish permanent home rule authority for counties instead of requiring repeated legislative authorizations.  Their recommendations include an increase in the sales tax authority from the current 3% to 4%, reflecting the rate now in place in nearly every county, and setting a reasonable upper limit on the mortgage tax.

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