Friday, November 21, 2014

ANOTHER "BEND OVER BROOKFIELD" - Madison County Supervisors vote themselves a 16% raise...because no body was looking! See Becker's comment.


Talk about chutzpah..the BOARD INCREASED THEIR OWN SALARIES 16%!!! From $12,935 to $15,000 ...on top of the TOWN SALARIES...and ON TOP OF THEIR FREE HEALTH INSURANCE..... ANOTHER "Bend Over Brookfield Moment" BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MADISON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS....SALKA VOTED FOR THE RAISE!  only four supervisors, including Pinard, Lebanon Supervisor Jim Goldstein, Oneida Supervisor Scott Henderson and Nelson Supervisor Roger Bradstreet, voted to keeping their salaries the same.

WAMPSVILLE >> No members of the public spoke at the first three hearings on Madison County’s tentative 2015 budget. Prior to action taken by the Board of Supervisors Monday, the proposed $111.8 million budget included a 7.66 percent property tax rate hike. After some additions, and a decision by supervisors to raise their own pay, the tax hike was increased to 8.38 percent. As it currently stands, supervisors will receive $15,000 each next year for their work on the board, an increase from this year’s $12,935. The deputy chairman is also scheduled to receive $1,320 on top of his current $6,180 stipend while the chairman’s stipend will increase from $13,845 to $15,000.
A proposal to strip raises for supervisors out of the budget was declined, keeping $43,658 in the budget. A resolution submitted by Lenox Supervisor John Pinard would’ve reverted salaries of the deputy chairman and supervisors back to this year’s rates; only four supervisors, including Pinard, Lebanon Supervisor Jim Goldstein, Oneida Supervisor Scott Henderson and Nelson Supervisor Roger Bradstreet, voted to keeping their salaries the same.
Except or the supervisors from the City of Oneida, they are also paid by their individual towns.
Besides contractual raises negotiated with the employee unions, no raises are programmed into next year’s budget, so far. Money to fund potential raises for management employees will be put aside and held in contingency until the board makes a decision on their pay next year.
The board tacked on more spending, opting to restore requests for appropriations to replace vehicles in the highway and sheriff’s departments. Restoring those cuts will add $128,000 to purchase 11 patrol cars instead of seven. Similarly, the Highway Department was allocated an additional $100,000 to purchase 12 new pick-up trucks, instead of eight. Overall, the board’s decision will increase the tax levy by another $236,781 or .722 percent for a total levy increase of 8.38 percent and a tax rate increase calculated at $9.03.
The allocations for equipment replacement will hopefully put the departments on track for scheduled replacement of vehicles, Chairman John Becker said. Replacing a third of the Highway Department’s pickup trucks and rotating out older vehicles in the Sheriff’s Office will save the county money in the long-run by avoiding costly and ongoing vehicle repairs as they rack up miles.
The proposed tax rate will raise a levy of $35.26 million next year. That amount of revenue is still less than what the county will pay out in programs mandated by the state, including Medicaid, various social services programs, the New York State Retirement System, the county jail, public health, probation services, community college tuition assistance and indigent defense.
Mandated programs like foster care and juvenile delinquency will see huge increases in their operating costs next year. The cost of those two programs alone will increase by nearly $1 million, costing the county a total of $2.27 million next year (about 60 percent of the programs overall costs).The cost per placement in the foster care program will increase, on average, $12 per child per day while services under the juvenile delinquent program will increase $80 per day for an overall daily fee of almost $400.
The department’s Safety Net program will also see huge increases next year. The program serves residents who have exhausted the limit for federal assistance. Next year the county will pay $56,000 more into the program than it did this year, costing a total of $921,978.
To balance next year’s budget, $3.6 million will be allocated from the county’s general fund balance and another $1 million will be added in from the county road fund. The estimated fund balance for next year is currently calculated to be about $15.3 million or 7.56 percent of the county’s total spending.
The county’s fund balance policy requires unexpended surplus funds to be maintained at a level no less than 5 percent but no more than 15 percent of budget appropriations. Those percentages have fluctuated in the last several years – dipping to 4.19 percent in 2013 with a fund balance of $13.53 million up to 11.41 percent estimated for this year’s $19.15 million fund balance. As decided by the board, $5 million will be reverted back into the fund balance from the county’s $11 million settlement with the Oneida Indian Nation to replenish deductions made in recent years.
Changes in personnel will account for added costs in next year’s budget. The Sheriff’s Office will add three deputies and four correctional officers to its staffing roster. The deputy positions will add $42,308 each, totaling $126,924 and the correctional officers will account for another $145,768 or $36,442 per position. An office assistant in the District Attorney’s Office ($26,579), a probation officer ($38,552) and a planner in the planning department ($42,916) are also calculated into next year’s budget.
Nearly two-and-a-half percent of next year’s levy increase will be spent on one-time grants to local school districts, totaling $805,312, to compensate for the loss of taxable property on their tax rolls as a result of the settlement with the Nation. Another $194,053 will be set aside for potential pay-outs to municipalities affected by the settlement’s impact on properties’ tax exempt status.
Funding for non-profits will remain the same as this year. A total of $1.46 million is proposed to be distributed to non-profits next year, including a new allocation to the Chittenango Canal Museum for $30,000. The Literacy Coalition of Madison County asked for $20,000 in funding, but was denied.
At the evening meeting on Nov. 18, The board approved a handful of other motions, including reappointing Treasurer Cindy Edick as budget officer and Mark Scimone as deputy budget officer.
More budget changes were addressed during the end of the meeting. Including the approval of $20,000 to be given to Cornell Cooperative Extension. A blanket 2 percent increase for all not for profit organizations was proposed by Hamilton Supervisor Eve Ann Shwartz and was tabled by the group because certain members felt that giving all the listed organizations money was unwise, given that some had not applied for more funding.
“We need to pay more attention to the funding of these groups in the coming years,” Shwartz said.
Members of the general public were absent at the 6 p.m. meeting, with those in attendance being members of various county committees or organizations.
Board of Supervisors Chairman John Becker said that he was unhappy that no one had attended the meeting, but, that the empty turn out did not come as a shock.
“If people think that their taxes are too high I urge them to come out and voice their opinions,” Becker said. “This isn’t surprising. The only time we have members of the public here is when they are representing organizations.”
Oneida Dispatch reporter Nick Will contributed to this report.
Posted by at