NYSAC - New York State Association of Counties

January 30, 2009

The NYSAC Legislative Conference Begins in Ten Days, from February 9-11 in Albany.

Don’t miss it! Guests to include Governor David Paterson, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Speaker Sheldon Silver, Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, not to mention more than 600 of your county colleagues from across the state. Register Today! Forms available at www.nysac.org.

NYS Comptroller DiNapoli, Federal Reserve Bank Economist James Orr to be Featured Speakers at Plenary Session on State’s Economy
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Dr. James Orr, an economist and Assistant Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will be the featured speakers at the closing plenary session of the NYSAC Legislative Conference on February 11, 2009 at the Desmond Hotel in Albany.

The session entitled, “The New York State Economy, What Does the Future Hold?” will discuss the Economic Recession sweeping the nation and its impact on New York State.

Dr. Orr will provide session participants with an overview of the New York State Economy and how the long range implications of the current crisis in the financial sector may impact our national and state economies.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli will speak on the impacts these basic economic changes will have on New York State, and the repercussions they may have on State and county budgets in the future. The featured speakers will be followed by a discussion panel of experts from county government and other affected sectors, moderated by Robert Ward, Deputy Director of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. (Jeff Osinski)

Local Government Leaders Urge State to Pay its Property Taxes on State Lands
On Friday, local government officials from the Adirondack and Catskill regions met in Albany to discuss the impact of the State’s effort to cap the property taxes they pay to local governments and school districts.

"This state has a wealth of land that should be protected, and this coalition of local governments is not arguing against that. What we are saying is that that protection comes with a price and that price cannot be paid by the property taxpayers in these regions. They can’t afford to pay any more in property taxes,” said NYSAC President Sarah Purdy. New Yorkers pay 79 percent above the national average in property taxes.

For over 120 years New York State has held ownership of forest preserve property in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks, as well as land in other parts of the state, to conserve ecologically and recreationally significant tracts of land for watershed protection and the general benefit of all New Yorkers.

The State has proposed to reduce PILOT payments and freeze property tax payments at last year’s levels. While this proposal is estimated to save $8.5 million for the State, it will add to the burden facing the homeowners and businesses that pay property taxes in these economically challenged regions.

NYSAC has been meeting with Governor Paterson and his office has been receptive to our concerns. Additionally, NYSAC is meeting with members of the State Legislature. (Pete Savage)

Governor Paterson Signs Bill To Strengthen Probation Laws
A new measure targeting violators, assisting local probation departments, and protecting our communities was signed into law by Governor Paterson this week.

The probation legislation sets in place several new requirements that ensure rapid responses to reported probation violations to better protect victims and communities.

Under the new law, criminal courts must react promptly to a probation department’s request for a probation warrant or issuance of a declaration of delinquency. The law requires all probation warrants to be entered into the statewide law enforcement electronic criminal justice network within 48 hours of issuance, ensuring that all enforcement agencies are alerted to a probation violation. Courts must address probation violation cases within 72 hours of receiving a report of an alleged incident, and must ensure that alleged violators are promptly brought before court. (Adriano Bongiorno)

County Clerks Hold Legislative Conference; New Association President Takes Office
The New York State Association of County Clerks (NYSACC) met in Albany this past week to lobby the State Legislature and swear in a new slate of executive officers. St. Lawrence County Clerk, Patty Ritchie, took office as NYSACC’s 46th President.

The Association also came into town to lobby on a slate of issues important to their offices. NYSACC’s 2009 legislative agenda includes:

• The protection of personally identifying information on public documents;
• Supporting efforts to advance electronic recording of land records; and
• increased financial support for the operation of county DMV offices.

The members also discussed the issue of identity theft, new federal standards for military discharge papers, Internet DMV transactions and the impact of the 2009-2010 Executive Budget Proposal. (Pete Savage) 

US Court of Appeals Decision Holds Impact for Municipal Corporations
A decision handed down on January 28, 2009, has implications for counties and other municipal corporations in New York. The Second Circuit ruled this week that a BOCES located within Sullivan County was not an arm of New York State for Eleventh Amendment immunity. The Plaintiff, Carrie Gorton, filed a complaint in 2004 that during her employment at Sullivan County BOCES she was harassed repeatedly by a fellow teacher. 

As a general rule “state government may not be sued in federal court unless they have waived their 11th Amendment immunity.” This immunity extends to state agents and state instrumentalities that are effectively “arms of the state.” However, 11th Amendment immunity does not extend to suits against municipal corporations or other government entities with which are not encompassed within the definition of “arms of the state.” 

The Court used six factors to determine whether an entity is an arm of the state: (1) how the entity is referred to in its documents of origin; (2) how the governing members of the entity are appointed; (3) how the entity is funded; (4) whether the entity’s function is traditionally one local or state government; (5) whether the state has a veto power over the entity’s actions; and (6) whether the entity’s financial obligations are binding upon the state. If these factors are determined in different directions (for or against immunity), then a court must ask whether a suit against the entity would threaten the integrity of the state and expose its treasury.

The 2nd Circuit found that the first three factors and the sixth factor weighed against immunity, the fourth factor was neutral, and the fifth factor weighed in favor of immunity. Because the factors pointed in different directions the court then looked at whether the suit against the entity would threaten the integrity of the state and expose the treasury to risk. To this end, the court ruled that there was some risk to New York State by way of increased spending for BOCES services and a reduction in the benefit or value the state gets from its investments, but these risks were not enough for BOCES to fall within the ambit of the so called “arm of the state.”  (Robert Gibbon)

Winter issue of the NYSAC News magazine now available
Check out the Winter 2009 issue of the NYSAC News for news about ways to save money on partnership programs, state budget proposals, the latest economic statistics and a range of other timely articles designed for today’s county government official.

NYSAC Legislative Director Ken Crannell provides an update on the Executive State Budget, Ontario County Administrator Geoffrey Astles discussion how partnerships can pave the way to cost savings. You can access these and other stories online on our Website at www.nysac.org.

To read the magazine online or to download a PDF version of the issue, click here.

NYSAC 2009 Legislative Conference
The New York State Association of Counties invites you to join us at the 2009 NYSAC Legislative Conference, which will be held on February 9th through 11th at the Desmond Hotel & Conference Center in Albany, New York. This year's conference will include a broad array of timely programs and sessions designed to support the day-to-day efforts of today's county officials struggling to balance the difficult road ahead for local government in New York State. NYSAC has developed a comprehensive program of workshops, plenary sessions, training programs and networking opportunities to help county officials explore solutions and share new approaches for dealing with these unprecedented times.
 
The Legislative Conference will spotlight a special series of policy forums sponsored by the NYSAC Standing Committees on a variety of key topics essential to your county. Among the speakers to address the county delegation throughout the conference are Governor David Paterson, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco and Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos.
 
In addition, all newly elected and appointed county officials are encouraged to attend the 7th Annual Orientation Program on Monday February 9, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the conference. For an agenda, visit www.nysac.org/About/Pelletier_Institute/orientation_agenda.php.
 
For a conference agenda and registration information, visit www.nysac.org/documents/FLYERLC09web.pdf. 

Next Week
State lawmakers are scheduled to be in session from Monday, February 2nd through Thursday, February 5th.