Archive: Opinions

My two are Youth Services and Road Patrol.  Others favor older adult services and programs for unwed mothers.  Everyone has theirs.  Something has to go.  What's a legislator to do?

Of course I'm talking about the county budget.  The first stage was County Legislator Joe Mareane's budget proposal, which took an unemotional look at county spending and unceremoniously cut programs to try to address a $4 million budget gap and still bring in the tax levy at 5% higher than last year.  The second step was advocacy for programs that were reduced, cut, or just felt they needed more money.  Some people called it advocacy, others whining and begging.  Some groups were better at it than others, notably Youth Services, which generated an impressive mass of advocates with compelling arguments.

Now comes the hard part.  Legislators actually have to decide what to put back in, if anything.  If they do not cut from Mareane's proposal, putting anything back in at all will raise the levy above 5%.  On Wednesday the Town of Lansing's Legislator Pat Pryor said that at this time the only thing she would consider going over 5% for is Youth Services, in part because of the volume of advocacy and in part because of her background as a teacher.  Pryor has said all along she is not for a large rise in taxes, so this has to be hard for her.

She also said that some groups are not as good at advocating as others, and Legislators are going to have to take that into consideration as they decide what shape the final budget will take.  To me that means they are going to be guessing, which I do not think is a good thing.  But it is part of the reality all governments officials face when crafting a budget.

That it is hard is good -- I hope it is hard for all the legislators, and I think it's past time to have a serious conversation about how much the community really wants to pay more to provide services for Tompkins County residents who are less fortunate.  As Pryor filled the Town of Lansing Board in on county deliberations Wednesday I heard the beginnings of a question about the value of programs that keep elderly people in their homes, as opposed to a more expensive option of housing them in facilities.  I also saw programs for teaching expectant mothers how to cook, something I really question as a taxpayer expense.

Pryor mentioned that Youth Services is the only department that is being cut pretty much wholesale.  That other departments are having programs cut, but not the whole department.  She suggested that if Youth Services is to be cut that it should be stepped over a few years to give the program a chance to find alternative funding and structural options such as Towns taking over the program, fundraising, or grant options.  That seems like a reasonable compromise.  If the communities really do want Youth Services that gives them a chance to put their money where their mouths are, so to speak.

The thing is that despite rosy proclamations from Washington, people are still hurting financially, and evaluating whether they can afford to stay in their houses in Tompkins County.  If taxes continue to go up just about everyone is going to need services and there won't be anyone left to pay for them.  That would be bad.  It seems to me that Mareane's proposed budget is looking better and better even though it contains a lot of pain.  Somebody has to deal with the reality.  It's not a happy reality, but it's the one we've got.

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