February 1, 2008
Legislative Conference Attracts More Than 850 County Officials
Close to 1,000 attendees from almost every county in the Empire State came together in Albany this week for NYSAC’s 2008 Legislative Conference.
“This is one of our best attended conferences ever. We had a delegation from 56 of our member counties and from the City of New York,” said NYSAC President Lucille M. McKnight, an Albany County Legislator. “It demonstrates the strength and cohesiveness of this 83-year-old community of counties that we call NYSAC.”
The Association held three days of workshops and county delegates heard from each of New York’s statewide elected officials and from leaders of each house of the State Legislature. The speakers included Governor Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Republican Leader Jim Tedisco.
View photos from the conference on our Website at www.nysac.org.
Counties Concerned Over Conflicting State Budget Numbers
The 2008-09 Executive Budget Proposal documents indicate that counties will see a net positive benefit of $348.9 million in 2008 and $519 million in 2009 from the State spending plan. NYSAC’s analysis reveals a different point of view. According to county calculations, the Executive Budget negatively impacts counties by at least $27.5 million in the current budget year and $50 million in the next. These losses are from several program cuts and cost shifts, highlighted by an increased local share for welfare and elimination of State reimbursement for local youth detention.
Why the different perspective? The answer lies in what and how you count. Here are the major differences:
Medicaid Cap Savings
State Position - Counties will receive increased savings of $128.9 million in 2008 and $244 million in 2009 from the Medicaid Cap.
County Position - Under the terms of the Medicaid Cap, county Medicaid expenditures increase by approximately $55 million annually. County Medicaid costs are increasing, not decreasing.
Family Health Plus Savings
State Position - The State claims a $145.1 million county benefit in 2008 and a $149.3 million county benefit from the state takeover of the Family Health Plus (FHP) Program.
County Position - Counties have not participated in the Family Health Plus Program since 2005 and their current budgets do not reflect any program expense. It is not accurate to represent this cost avoidance as new savings to a county.
Preschool “Cap”
State Position - The Executive Budget includes a "cap" on Preschool Special Education Program costs that will save counties $12 million in 2008 and $31 million in 2009.
County Position - Preliminary analysis indicates that many counties and the City of New York do not benefit from the proposal as currently structured.
Local Option Fees
State Position - Counties will receive $109.3 million in increased revenue from increased document recording fees.
County Position - The proposed document recording fee increase is a local option and therefore should not be counted as a statewide revenue increase for all counties.
New Sales Tax Revenue
State Position - Counties will receive a benefit of $32.9 million in revenue under a plan to begin collecting sales tax on sales conducted via the Internet.
County Position - This proposal was instituted administratively in December of 2007 and immediately withdrawn by the Governor. Also, county sales tax collections are on a downward trend and this change many not increase overall collections.
Increased Local Welfare Share
State Position - The increase in the county share of State welfare programs will have no impact in 2008 and increase county costs by $10.7 million in 2009.
County Position - The proposed increase in the local share of Welfare is effective on April 1, 2008 and will increase county costs by approximately $19 million over two years. Counties must begin accruing this increase in calendar year 2008.
Elimination of Youth Detention Reimbursement
State Position - The elimination of state aid for local youth detention will equate to a net loss to counties of $13.7 million in 2008 and $27.4 million in 2009.
County Position - Preliminary analysis indicates that the actual loss could be greater than indicated on a county by county basis.
The following table outlines costs to counties from the Executive Budget.
When additional proposals contained in the Executive Budget, including the impacts to county nursing facilities, loss of CHIPs Aid, and reduced aid to community colleges are factored in, counties will see an even larger net negative impact from the budget.
NYSAC is actively discussing these differences directly with the Governor’s Office, and we hope to improve the county impact as the Governor considers amendments to the 2008-09 Budget. If you have any questions regarding the 2008-09 Executive Budget and the impact on your county, please contact the NYSAC offices. (Ken Crannell)
Pelletier Orientation Welcomes 83 newly elected county officials
More than 80 newly elected and appointed officials went back to school Monday…this time to learn the finer points of being a local public servant.
County legislators, commissioners, supervisors and administrators were among the local leaders who came from counties across New York to attend the Orientation for Newly Elected and Appointed County Officials at NYSAC’s 2008 Legislative Conference. Several of those attending included members of the new class of more than 175 county officials elected last November and began serving earlier this month.
“County government can be a complex organization, and this orientation is a great way for our new officials to learn the basics. It’s also a great opportunity for county leaders to meet their peers and share good ideas,” said Lucille M. McKnight, NYSAC President and an Albany County Legislator.
The seven-hour orientation program is offered by the Dennis A. Pelletier County Government Institute, which is a structured educational program established for elected and appointed county officials. The Pelletier Institute grew out of a partnership between NYSAC and Cornell University, and is named for a widely respected Monroe County legislator and former member of the NYSAC Board of Directors. (Jeff Osinski)
Legislation fixing Cold War vets real property exemption issues signed by the Governor
Legislation fixing technical issues with a local option real property tax exemption to veterans of the Cold War has been signed into law. Chapter 6 of the Laws of 2008 amends the 2007 chapter which granted the local option exemption, closing a loophole that would have allowed veterans to receive municipal real property tax exemptions and removing the requirement that a veteran applying for the exemption had to have received a specific commendation known as the Cold War Recognition Certificate.
Several counties were waiting to adopt the necessary local resolution to provide Cold War era veterans with this exemption until the "clean up" legislation was signed into law. The deadline for local adoption remains March 15th. (Peter Savage)
2008 County Directory
NYSAC is currently updating its roster of thousands of elected and appointed county officials in New York State. The directory will be available in April. To order a copy of the 2008 Directory, visit
www.nysac.org/About/documents/2007DirectoryOrderForm.pdf.
Coming Next Week
New York State Senate and Assembly are in session on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 – NYSAC will team up with the New York State Public Welfare Association before the Joint Fiscal Committee on Children and Families to testify on the county impact of the 2008-09 Executive State Budget Proposal.
