March 28, 2008
State Budget Negotiations Continue, Major Cost Shifts Defeated
Three days past the April 1st start of the state fiscal year, the Governor and State Legislative Leaders have not reached agreement on a state spending plan for state fiscal year 2009-10. Lawmakers are expected to continue working through the weekend.
At this point, major costs shifts to counties, including the plan to change the 50-year-old Welfare funding formula to have county taxpayers pay a greater share of the public assistance program than the state and the elimination of the State share of local youth detention funding, have been defeated. This could not have been possible without the strong leadership of the Senate Majority and key members of the Assembly.
There is no denying that the final state budget will create challenges for counties as they address the impact of a 2 percent across the board cut in aid to localities that was advanced by Governor Paterson. NYSAC is still aggressively working on open issues and will provide updates as the process moves forward.
Please contact the NYSAC offices for more information. (Ken Crannell)
Some Adirondack counties to receive grants to stimulate regional growth
Governor Paterson recently announced a total of $1 million in grant funding to local governments throughout the Adirondack Park to develop plans that link sustainable development and environmental protection. Eighteen projects were funded in total, ranging from the rehabilitation of a historic theater to designing a better wireless communications network across the region.
County specific projects that received funding include:
- $45,000 to St. Lawrence County for development of the user’s guide to the St. Lawrence Adirondack region,
- $100,000 to Essex County in partnership with five towns for development of a county tourism master plan,
- $34,310 to Lewis County in partnership with five towns to update the county’s comprehensive use plan, and
- $120,000 to Essex County in partnership with the Adirondack Community Housing Trust to complete a new phase of their Hamlet expansion plan.
A grant of $106,971 will be given to a group of partners lead by SUNY Plattsburgh to identify existing structures with the potential to accommodate cell phone and wireless communication facilities. Increased wireless and broadband Internet access for the rural regions of the State, such as the Adirondacks, has long been a priority issue for NYSAC. (Pete Savage)
County Leaders in the Capital Region Investigate Workforce Intelligence
As part of the second phase of the Workforce Intelligence (WI) Project, NYSAC and the NYS Department of Labor have been meeting with county leaders from the Capital Region to better understand and develop strategies for creating an innovative and skilled workforce.
Funded by the State Labor Department, the WI project is designed to give local elected officials and policy makers the tools they need to better direct the economic future of their regions. In several recent surveys conducted by NYSAC, county leaders have identified jobs and the economy as their top priorities.
The first tool from the project will be research on industry trends in the Capital Region, to be conducted by Cornell University. County leaders in the region will be able to identify and explore which industries have the most promising outlooks and which are in decline. The second tool will be assistance in developing regional strategies and action steps needed to address those industry trends.
“Part of the Workforce Intelligence project will be to have industry trend data available for all regions of the state so that NYSAC, through its partnerships with Cornell University and the Department of Labor, will be able to provide workforce intelligence assistance to counties of all regions in the state over the next three years,” said Stephen J. Acquario, NYSAC executive director. (Isabelle Andrews)
NYSAC, Empire State Development, Cornell University Schedule Webinar on Census Population Numbers
On April 22, 2008, NYSAC will host a Webinar on the impact that recently released US Bureau of the Census Population estimates will have on New York State counties.
The Census Bureau Population estimates are utilized to allocate relative shares of funding to states and local communities under state and federal funding formulas. During this one-hour session, counties will be able to learn about the impact these estimates will have on counties in the coming year. County officials will also be provided with information concerning the process to challenge population estimates that appear not to represent the real population growth of their county.
This session, which will take place from 10 to 11 a.m., will be conducted by experts from NYSAC, Empire State Development’s New York State Data Center and the Program on Applied Demographics at Cornell University. This session is also sponsored by the New York State Association of County Planning Directors, the Community and Rural Development Institute at Cornell and the Pelletier County Government Institute.
Participation in this Webinar is a free service provided by NYSAC, but pre-registration is required. Click here to register for the Webinar, or visit our website at www.nysac.org.
Registrants in the Pelletier Institute will receive 1 continuing education credit towards their certificate of achievement through their participation in this Webinar.
Counties are urged to closely examine their population estimates to determine their accuracy. Copies of the Census Bureau population estimate tables can be downloaded from our website at www.nysac.org/Policy_and_Research/. (Jeff Osinski)
NYSAC to Host Tour of State Corrections Food Production Center
NYSAC has invited member county officials from around the State to join NYSAC for a tour of the New York State Department of Correctional Services’ (DOCS) Food Production Center in Rome, NY. The tour will take place next Thursday, April 10th at 10:30 a.m. and will allow county officials the opportunity see this operation first hand and learn about a new opportunity to purchase these meals for your county jail.
The DOCS “Cook/Chill” facility provides low-cost, nutritional meals to inmates in state correctional facilities, and the 2008-09 Executive Budget Proposal includes a provision to counties to contract with this facility to provide the same low cost meals to county jails. (Adriano Bongiorno)
42nd County Finance School Registration Underway
Sign up today for the 42nd County Finance School, which will be held at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel on April 30-May 2, 2008. It offers an array of programs designed to support county budget operations and other critical financial issues. For more information and to register, visit
www.nysac.org/Conferences/Finance_School.php.
Save the date for the NYSAC Fall Seminar
The NYSAC Fall Seminar will be held September 24-26, 2008 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County.
Upcoming Next Week
The Senate and Assembly are scheduled to be in session on Monday through Wednesday.
