May 11 , 2007
Local Government Commission Provides Clarification
Two weeks ago Governor Spitzer sent a letter to local government officials from across the State asking them to identify initiatives they would like to advance in relation to local government merger, consolidation, regionalized government, shared services and smart growth. This week the Commission clarified that these initiatives are to be identified at the county level with County leaders coordinating the process and forwarding initiatives to the Commission, with at least one initiative expected from each county.
County executives or county legislative chairs are responsible for coordinating the identification of one or more proposals on behalf of communities within each county, and the proposals are due to the Commission by June 15, 2007. To assist in the process, the Commission has provided answers to frequently asked questions to their request on their website at www.nyslocalgov.org. Commission staff will be reaching out to counties over the next several weeks to inquire on the status of the county’s efforts. If you have any questions, please contact the NYSAC offices. (Ken Crannell)
Shared Municipal Services Grants Awarded to several Counties
Four Counties received nearly half a million dollars in grant funding from the State’s Shared Municipal Services Incentive program (SMSI). Administrated by the Department of State, the SMSI program provides incentive grants in specific funding areas to assist local governments with efforts to share or consolidate municipal services. This funding comes from the second round of SMSI grants to be issued by the State.
The counties awarded funding under the Countywide Shared Service Incentive Awards include:
- Schenectady County, with $100,000 to conduct a study to determine the feasibility, cost effectiveness and potential implementation methods for an improved and centralized emergency dispatch system to serve the municipalities under its jurisdiction; and
- Monroe County, with $300,000 to improve inter-municipal safety services, officer functions and mobile data transmission.
Counties that received awards under the Local Health Insurance Incentive Awards include:
- Livingston County, which will receive $39,120 to retain a consultant to study the feasibility and cost saving potential of implementing alternative cost saving methods and/or approaches to providing health insurance for municipal and county employees; and
- Tompkins County, which will receive $266,030 to work with the 16 additional members of the Tompkins County Council of Government, to establish a health care consortium to develop a comprehensive employee health insurance program. (Pete Savage)
Jail Report Questions Need for County Jail Construction
This week, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) released a report documenting unnecessary jail expansion in New York entitled, "Impacts of Jail Expansion in New York State: A Hidden Burden.” The report argues that the New York State Commission of Correction (SCOC), rather than a genuine need for increased local cell capacity, has driven the recent increase in new jail construction throughout New York’s counties.
The report reinforces the position long held by NYSAC that counties must be involved and have a voice in all phases of jail construction as our taxpayers will ultimately be the ones paying for the project.
The SCOC is a state commission with authority to mandate the size and schedule of local jail construction projects, and they can impose financial penalties to counties that do not comply with its mandates. Since 1995, 36 counties have been involved in a jail construction or expansion project at the behest of the SCOC, with a bill of over $1 billion that local taxpayers must pay.
The report noted that the push to increase local jail capacity comes at a time when the overall need for correctional space in New York State is decreasing. Between 1999 and 2006, the New York state prison population had dropped from 71,000 to 62,928 people, a decrease of 8 percent in less than a decade. Despite the decrease in the prison population, the combined capacity of county jails in upstate and suburban New York increased by 20 percent to a total of 19,984 beds in 2006, with 6,000 more beds due to be added by the end of 2007.
The report noted that the growth in the number of people incarcerated in local jails does not stem from an increase in crime or by an increase in population. It is driven by the expansion mandates and new arrest and detention policies, including arrest policies for low-level offenses and misdemeanors; a rising number of mentally ill people in jail; system inefficiencies; and the use of local jails to hold those detained on parole violations awaiting adjudication.
The complete report can be found at
www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/docs/CCR_NYS_Jail_Report.pdf. (Adriano Bongiorno)
County Projects to be Showcased at Shared Services Seminar
County efforts to develop programs of shared municipal services will be highlighted at a regional seminar co-sponsored by NYSAC, the Pelletier Institute, Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the SUNY Fredonia Center for Rural Regional Development and Governance, May 31, 2007 at the Holiday Inn in Batavia New York.
The opening plenary session will feature a presentation on the findings of a study of shared municipal services in Western New York conducted by the SUNY Fredonia Center for Rural Regional Development and Governance. This study, which was conducted by Mark Thomas, former Chautauqua County Executive, took a comprehensive look at the status of shared municipal services in Western New York.
Individual breakout sessions on Wyoming County’s county-wide code enforcement program, highway shared services programs in Orleans and Chemung Counties, employee health Insurance initiatives in Tompkins County and public safety shared services initiatives in Genesee and Broome County will be among the featured presentations.
John Clarkson, Executive Director of the Governor’s Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, will give the featured luncheon address. Mr. Clarkson will outline the purposes of the commission and detail how the administration will develop its overall agenda to support local government efficiency and shared municipal services.
Participants who are registered with the Dennis A. Pelletier County Government Institute will receive credit toward the Institute’s certificate of achievement.
Register online for this session at http://hosts.cce.cornell.edu/cardi_forums/. Space is limited. A nominal registration fee of $30 will be required to register.
For more details on the program, visit the website of Cornell University’s Community and Rural Development Institute at http://cardi.cce.cornell.edu/editorstree/view/123. (Jeff Osinski)
MapInfo and Governing magazine to host Economic Development Webinar
Are you looking for a way to expand you local tax base and attract new retailers to your county? Join Governing magazine and experts from MapInfo (a Rensselaer County-based technology company) for an economic development Webinar on May 17th at 2:00 p.m.
The Webcast will discuss new ways of retaining and attracting retail companies to your region or county. Participants include a community economic development director, a retailer and a supplier of retail attraction solutions. They will discuss ways that retail attraction can help you raise revenue and meet community goals. To register, visit http://www.governing.com/webcasts.htm.
Next Week
- The Senate and Assembly are scheduled to be in Albany in Legislative Session from Monday through Wednesday.
