NYSAC Weekly Wire

Re-caps the week's events, legislative action, and other news that impact county government.

November 20, 2009

Special Session Edition

Legislative Conference Scheduled for February 8-10, 2010
ARRA financing opportunities, freedom of information laws, soil and water conservation, farming and dairy issues, road and bridge policy, public health concerns, economic revitalization. NYSAC is putting the finishing touches on plans for the conference, and these are just of sampling of the topics to be addressed during the 2010 Legislative Conference.

The conference will be held at the Desmond Hotel in Albany from February 8-10, 2010. We have crafted a comprehensive and timely workshop program in addition to plenary sessions and training opportunities for county officials. Look for our conference registration flyer in December in the mail and on our website at www.nysac.org . 

Pass the Blame, Pass the Turkey: More Inaction on Deficit Reduction Plan
After a contentious week of deliberations on the Governor’s $3.2 Billion Deficit Reduction Plan (DRP), lawmakers departed Albany for their respective homes without taking action on the plan. They appear to remain anywhere from $200 million to $700 million apart. While leaders of the Majority and Minority in both the Senate and Assembly had reported that discussions were positive and going well, Governor Paterson said that he did not believe there was any reason for optimism about the plan’s passage this week.

State Budget Director Robert Megna has warned that the state is likely to run out of cash to pay its bills in December. With the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching, the looming cloud of December is beginning to appear. Both the Assembly and Senate have adjourned and are set to return Monday, November 23.

Pension Rate Mitigation Talks Continue
In an effort to address rising state and local pension contributions, negotiations continue between the Governor, Senate and Assembly over legislation permitting  employers to opt into a mitigated rate system. Under the draft legislation circulating, pension rates will be capped to an annual increase of one percent of salaries when the ERS rate hits an average of 9.5% of total salaries. The cap, thereafter, would limit the following year’s rate to 10.5% of salaries. Employers would be permitted to amortize the amount owed in excess of the mitigated rate over a ten year period at an interest rate set by the State Comptroller. This plan permits employers who opt into this program to make a rate payment plus the amortization rate payment that are due that year. Citing a need to assist state and local governments with pension payments, the State Comptroller advanced similar legislation during the regular legislative session, which was defeated in the State Senate. It is unclear at this time whether legislation will in fact be submitted during this Extraordinary Session of the State Legislature. The Houses can only consider bills submitted by the Governor. NYSAC is evaluating the impact to the legislation. 

State Legislature Passes, Governor Signs Toughest DWI Legislation in Nation
This week, legislation was passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by the governor which increases the penalties for DWI. Persons charged of DWI with children under age 15 in the car will now face felony charges. Leandra’s law also expands the use of ignition interlock devices for persons convicted of DWI. NYSAC successfully lobbied for a provision which allows counties to adopt alternatives to monitoring the use of the ignition interlock devices by probation departments.

Legislation Enacted to Create a Municipal Sustainable Energy Loan Program
This bill, signed by the Governor and enacted into law, allows municipalities to establish a sustainable energy loan program to help homeowners finance the installation of renewable and energy efficient systems. Municipalities may issue loan programs to help accelerate renewable energy systems for homeowners. This program would allow the property taxpayer to repay the loan as a separate charge on their property tax bill over a time frame that does not exceed the life of the product. The legislation helps municipalities fulfill  an  important  public  purpose to promote the deployment of renewable energy systems consistent with statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy goals that consider reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate the effect of global climate change and advance a clean energy economy.

Leaders Announce Agreement on Public Authorities Reforms, Future Uncertain
The Governor and State Legislative Leaders announced agreement on amendments to the Public Authorities Law to create an independent public authorities budget office within the Department of State. The Authorities Budget Office will have wide ranging authority to oversee and monitor the affairs of public authorities established under New York State Law at both the state and local level.

Trumpeted as a victory for government transparency, the measure would create a new state agency that will require greater recordkeeping, reporting and overall administrative controls over the internal operations of all state-created public authorities and their subsidiaries, including authorities ranging in size from the Metropolitan Transit Authority to local IDAs, county sewer and water boards, county airport and port authorities.

The new bill also requires the State Comptroller’s approval of authority transactions in excess of $1 million and contains whistle blower protection provisions to protect employees who disclose information concerning malfeasance, wrong doing or misconduct by authority personnel.

The bill has passed the Assembly, but ran into difficulties in the Senate largely because of two provisions contained within the bill.

Under the bill’s provisions, the transfer of land held by an authority to non-governmental entities at a price less than full market value needs prior approval before the transfer can occur. For state authority projects, either the Governor, the senate, or the assembly would have individual veto power over proposed land transfers, unlike current state constitutional procedures requiring passage by both houses and approval by the Governor for most state actions. Local authority projects would require the approval of local legislative bodies prior to the proposed land transfer.

The bill also contains a “Labor Peace” provision which requires hotel and convention center projects assisted in whole or in part by authority financing to sign an agreement with a labor organization representing hotel workers for a term of 5 years. The provision, in effect, requires that any convention center or hotel receiving public authority financing operate as a union house.

While NYSAC firmly supports the full transparency of public authority actions, several provisions are troubling, including: the requirements placed on local authorities for record keeping; and the reporting and administrative controls are overburdening to local authorities with small staffs and will result in higher administrative costs to local authorities and the taxpayers who support them.

Pension Reform (Tier V) Discussions Continue
Discussions on the creation of a Tier V for public employee pensions, one of the cornerstones of the Governor’s Deficient Reduction Program (DRP), continued without resolution this week.

The current draft proposal would create a new pension tier for those employees joining public service after January 1, 2010 under the New York State and Local Employee Retirement System (NYSLERS), the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSPFRS), the State Teachers Retirement Fund, and the Retirement funds of the City of New York.

This proposal would:

• Restore the 3% contribution for all members for their entire length of service;
• Restore the minimum retirement age to age 62;
• Increase the penalties for early retirement prior to age 62;
• Increase the vesting period to 10 years to be eligible to receive benefits from the current 5 years; and  
• Establish an overtime cap of 15% of total salary or $15,000 (depending on the plan enrolled in) that can be applied to final average salary determinations. All earnings above the cap level will not be utilized for final average salary calculations.

No changes are made in current pension tiers, due to the state constitutional provisions restricting changes in existing pension benefits.

NYSAC has strongly supported the Governor’s pension reform proposal creating a new pension tier due to soaring county employer pension fund contributions that have increased by over 780% since 2000. County employer pension contributions are projected to climb to over $1 billion annually by 2013, more than double the 2009 county contribution level without the enactment of pension reform.

Governor Extends State Worker Buyout
With the Deficit Reduction Plan still in flux, Governor Paterson extended the $20,000 State employee buyout offer that was scheduled to end this month. State Budget Director Robert Megna issued a letter to all state agencies urging commissioners to increase the number of state workers leaving employment; it is up to the state agency commissioners to choose who may apply since the position then must be abolished for five years. It is reported that only about a quarter of the 4,500 people estimated to be eligible for the buyout have taken it thus far.

Collecting Cigarette Sales Tax on Native Lands Part of DRP Debate
Senate Finance Chairman Carl Kruger this week held a press conference calling on Governor David Paterson to order state to begin collecting taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations as a way to help close the looming $3.2 billion State Budget deficit.

A measure enacted in Chapter 62 of 2003 amended various laws of the State regarding taxation and required the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance to implement, not later than September 16, 2003, measures to effectively collect sales and excise taxes on tribal and Indian sales of tobacco and motor fuels to non-tribal members. The collection of taxes has been avoided by three successive administrations for over four years.

In this most recent DRP debate this week, NYSAC and the NYSAC Standing Committee on Native American Affairs and Gaming renew our call for the Governor to begin enforcing the 2003 law as a way to generate revenue that will help close the budget gap and level the playing field with non Native retailers who have been forced to compete with stores who provide tax-free cigarettes and fuel.

IDA Reform Proposal Floated During On-Going Deficient Reduction Discussions
A proposal that would mandate new requirements on projects assisted by local Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) was circulating in the Capitol as part of on-going negotiations between the Governor and the Legislature during this week’s special session.

The proposal mandates that all construction, renovations, repair or rehabilitation of existing structures financed in whole or in part through an IDA is considered a public work and would be subject to prevailing union wage requirements or an alternative wage negotiated as part of a project labor agreement.

A recent study conducted by the Center for Government Research found that mandating prevailing wage requirements on IDA projects would increase the costs of a development by 23% in Upstate communities and by 52% in the New York City Metropolitan area.

The draft language also contains a requirement that all work performed for the maintenance and upkeep of employer facilities employing 100 or more employees must also to be subject to prevailing union wage requirements as determined by the Commissioner of Labor. This includes all contractors, subcontractors and other independent agents who deliver fuel, collect garbage, move furniture or provide other services such as landscaping or gardening.

The draft language also contains provisions that employees involved in wholesale trade, retail, warehousing, accommodation and food service, laundry, dry cleaning facility, or civic facility assisted by an IDA  be paid a minimum hourly wage of $19.20 in the City of New York, $16.98 on Long Island, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, and $14.68 for the rest of the state.

The draft language redefines civic facility to limit the availability of this financing option through local IDAs to 2 and 4 year colleges, Article 28 public health facilities and large cultural facilities employing not less than 500 people.

NYSAC has long opposed the imposition of prevailing wage mandates on project financed by local IDAs. NYSAC will be closely following developments on this proposal and its affect on local economic development. 

The Court of Appeals upholds a Westchester County Executive Order recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriage
In June 2006, Westchester County Executive Andrew J. Spano issued an executive order that recognized same sex marriage for the purpose of obtaining county benefits to the extent allowed by state law. Several taxpayers in Westchester County commenced an action against the County Executive, alleging a violation of § 51 of the General Municipal Law, stating that by issuing the Executive Order, Spano illegally legislated in the areas of marriage and domestic relations in a manner inconsistent with the New York State Constitution and State law.

Citing prior precedent, the court reiterated that a taxpayer suit under § 51 "lies only when the acts complained of are fraudulent, or a waste of public property in the sense that they represent a use of public property or funds for entirely illegal purposes.” Because plaintiffs did not allege fraud, their claim could only be maintained by proving an illegal dissipation of municipal funds. Plaintiffs did not, however, identify any specific impact that the Executive Order has had on any public employee or private individual in Westchester County, but more importantly, plaintiffs failed to specify a circumstance where taxpayer funds were expended as a result of the Executive Order that would not have been expended in the absence of the order. This finding was primarily because Westchester had been insuring same-sex domestic partners and dependents of county employees before the Executive Order was issued. The complaint was therefore dismissed.   

Cornell Cooperative Extension Sponsoring New York Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Education Summit
Cornell Cooperative Extension will host a Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Summit at the Owego Treadway Inn, in Owego, NY, on Monday, November 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The summit will explore the impacts development of the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas deposits will have on local government, landowners, business & industry, and local citizens.

Cornell University faculty, county and local government leaders and other interested professionals will address such workshop topics as the Geology of the Shale; Municipalities and the Marcellus Shale; Environmental, Water and Regulatory Issues; Local Government Preparation; Workforce Development and Small Business Application; Landowner Management; Legal Issues; Community Infrastructure: Wastewater Treatment Facilities and Roads; Community Development; Taxation, Revenues, and Property Valuation; and State and National Energy Plans.

The summit will present diverse perspectives on the challenges and opportunities presented by the potential development of Marcellus Shale Natural Gas in New York State. The summit is open to all interested county and local officials and the public at large. Attendance will require a $40 registration fee.

Registration information and a full agenda for this summit can be obtained by visiting the website of Cornell Cooperative Extension's, Natural Gas Development Resource Center at www.gasleasing.cce.cornell.edu  

Call for articles for the Winter 2010 NYSAC News
The theme of the Winter 2010 issue of the NYSAC News magazine is Counties and Higher Education and will highlight how higher educational institutions--from our county-sponsored community colleges to SUNY and private colleges and universities--play a vital role in our communities. All of our fine colleges and universities are instrumental to the future of New York State and provide critical training, research and entrepreneurial opportunities in all of NY’s regions.

We are currently seeking articles for submission that represent the multi-faceted relationships between counties and our colleges and universities.

Submissions should be between 750 to 1,000 words and include a high resolution (300 dpi) photograph of the author. Articles should be sent to Mark LaVigne at mlavigne@nysac.org by December 21, 2009. 

NYSAC 2010 Calendar Now Available
The inaugural NYSAC 2010 Calendar features 14 months of photos selected from the County Photo Challenge and includes holidays and the key conference dates of NYSAC and our affiliated associations. For more information, visit www.nysac.org.