In state of the county address, Albany faulted for driving up costs for residents, local governments
Leg leader says state policies play big role on local spending
Photo by Tom Rivers: Orleans County Legislature Chairwoman Lynne Johnson gives her “state of the county” address on Tuesday at the legislative chambers in the County Office Building.
ALBION – The leader of the Orleans County Legislature said state policies are straining the county budget and local pocketbooks.
Lyne Johnson, the chairwoman of the County Legislature, said the impact of state mandated programs continues to increase as a percentage of the county property tax.
County officials in the past spoke about the “9 for 90” mandated programs, how nine directives from the state would consume about 90 percent of the property tax. Johnson said those days feel nostalgic because the mandated programs now are 115 percent of the property tax. (The county can offset some of that and provide non-mandated programs with the local sales tax revenues).
“Our government must do what working families do every day – live within a tight budget and make tough choices,” Johnson said in a “state of the county” address. “We must continually finds ways to do more with less. We must forgo some things we really need until we are in a better fiscal position, and we have to be creative and aggressive in our search for solutions.”
State policies have driven up costs for housing and energy. Residents also face climbing expenses for childcare, groceries and filling their gas tank, Johnson said.
“New York has long been recognized as one of the least affordable states in the nation, but it feels like it has gotten much worse,” Johnson said. “The cost of living continues to rise faster than wages, leaving families squeezed from every direction.”
She faulted the state’s climate initiatives, in particular, for being “poorly designed” and ignoring the reality of the harsh Western New York winters. Johnson said the state rushed to close coal power plants, and has turned to thousands of acres of “unreliable solar panels on once pristine farmland.” Solar hasn’t made up for the loss of the coal plants, forcing NY to turn to other states for some power “at a premium cost.”
“This is just one of a hundred policies that simply ignore common sense,” she said.
Johnson said she will remain optimistic about Orleans County, and the resilience of its residents and the local leaders. She noted the County Legislature will continue to stay under the state-imposed property tax cap of about 2 percent.
“It’s no secret that this body will not vote to exceed the property tax cap because that just worsens the cost of the affordability crisis on our taxpayers,” she said.
She highlighted partnerships with neighboring counties, including the shared Genesee and Orleans County Health Department (GO Health) and the Niagara-Orleans Regional Alliance.
“Intermunicipal cooperation and the sharing of resources will always be an important focus for us,” she said.
The Legislature leader said county officials have pursued state and federal funding “at every turn possible, pounding the pavement in Washington and Albany to lobby for our needs.”
That paid off with $2 million from the federal government to help pay for a new Emergency Management Office operations center and $2 million for upgrades to the Public Safety Building.
The county is seeking $1.65 million through Congresswoman Claudia Tenney’s office to renovate the former GCC building in Albion, which is currently used by Probation. The county would like to bring the Office for the Aging to the site as well.
Johnson cited other new initiatives to assist residents:
- Department of Social Services launching an AI-powered virtual phone assistant to help residents
- An annual paint recycling program with the next one is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 30 at the GCC campus in Medina.
- Emergency services citizen preparedness training
- Safe Harbor program to keep kids safe from online predators
