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For the second year in a row Tompkins County Legislator Pat Pryor held an early budget information meeting Wednesday at the Lansing Town Hall.  The County is more challenged than ever this year as they struggle to formulate a budget fraught with State mandates in the face of the upcoming property tax cap.  She brought County Administrator Joe Mareane and Tompkins County Public Information Officer Marcia Lynch with her to help explain the issues impacting the 2012 County budget.

"The tax cap, we know now, is a reality," Pryor said.  "We know there is not going to be any significant mandate relief.  We also know that our services are going to continue to be very necessary.  The primary thing we do as a county is to provide services to people."

With Mareane's help Pryor listed rising costs and mandated programs that have forced County legislators into a budget vice.  The struggling economy has not helped.  With a drop in the County workforce, rises in Medicaid, labor costs, the end of Federal stimulus monies, New York State's refusal to let the county raise its mortgage tax to bring it to the level of most other counties in the state, huge pension and benefits rises, the County is on the hook for $5.3 million more than it collected last year, or a 13% tax rise.

The falling workforce adds to the County's welfare program burden.  Tompkins County has two welfare programs.  The County pays half the cost of the Safety Net Program.  The Federal Government pays half of the Family Assistance program with the State and County picking up the rest of the tab in equal amounts.  However, starting this year the County will pay 71% and the State will pay 29% of the New York portion.  When people have been in Family Assistance for five years they are ejected into the Safety Net program, bringing higher costs to the County.


Most telling were charts showing that pensions will have a 2.4% property tax impact.  Health benefits will add 2.2%, wages and fringe benefits 2.2%, major state mandates 2.5%, losses in state aid and the state veto on Tompkins County raising its mortgage tax 4.4%.  With the qualified good news that sales tax is rising, though not at levels County officials would like to see the total tax impact comes to 13%.

Subtract the 2% tax cap from 13% and it is impossible for the County to meet its responsibilities.  Mareane explained that two factors theoretically and realistically impact that disparity.

He defined things that the County has no control over as 'carve outs' that include such items as such as pension growth, medicaid, and other mandates.  If the State accepted the carve outs New York counties proposed Tompkins County would be allowed to raise $2.3 million dollars above last year's tax, which would come to a 5.4% rise in the levy.  While the State has not approved these 'carve outs' the Legislature voted earlier this year to look at two scenarios: one with a 2% rise and the other with a 5.4% rise.  As a result County department heads have been tasked with submitting dual budget requests: one potential budget with a 7.8% decrease from last year, and another with an 11.2% decrease.


That is the theoretical, and it is where the 5.4% budget rise number comes from.  If the State accepted the carve outs 5.4% would be the real tax cap, not 2%.

This is the reality: there is a trap door in the tax cap law that taxpayers are almost certainly going to tumble into.  The Legislature can raise as much in taxes as it wants or needs to if a super majority of the legislators vote to do so.  That means that 60% of the 15 legislators can vote for a higher tax.  That's nine legislators.  And on top of the impossible numbers imposed by mandates, they proved vulnerable last year to impassioned eleventh hour pleas to save this item or that.  That is made more difficult by the fact that these are worthy programs.

Discretionary programs include the 911 emergency response department, road patrol, highways and facility maintenance, the Tompkins County Public Library, mental health and youth services, information technology, the Office For The Aging, county administration, and various agencies, among others.  They represent 30% of the County budget.

Last year a number of items were reinstated after vocal groups defended them, notably a large number of people arguing for county youth services.  Prior has been a strong advocate of defining County priorities before the budget process.  She says she would rather make decisions based on well defined priorities than basing them on how loudly a department or special interest group lobbies the Legislature, or on how emotional an issue becomes.

Pryor voted against considering the two budget levels on the grounds that the Legislature had not defined its priorities and values, so neither budget level was based on something meaningful.  Pryor says the Legislature is looking for a time to meet to have that conversation before the next budget is set.


Community members asked some questions about, the perception of over-spending in the County, workfare, and Tompkins County's recent poor rating as being in the top 50 least efficient counties in the nation for providing services.  Mareane defended the County, noting that many counties in the U.S. don't have to pay gfor Medicare.  He said the County budget would drop by 27% if it didn't have to pay that cost.  There was also some discussion of replacing the property tax with a local income tax.  But even if Tompkins County wanted to make such a change the State would have to approve it.

"This is editorial," Mareane qualified.  "I've been in government for a long time.  There is no worse tax than the property tax.  And the fact that we finance so much of what we need to do locally to maintain a viable community is just a terrible way to raise money and pay for needed services.  If I get fired tomorrow my income tax is going to drop because my income drops.  My property tax is going to stay right where it is.  So it doesn't reflect personal situations or a whole lot of things.  It is a terrible way to raise money."

Department heads will submit their budgets to Mareane by the end of this month.  His recommended budget will be submitted to the Legislature at the beginning of September.  Pryor encouraged residents to continue to submit ideas and questions to her, and noted that anyone from any of the municipalities is welcome to future budget informatuion meetings as they occur around the county.  Pryor's contact information is on the Tompkins County Web site.

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