ALBION – A budget vote that ended in a 3-3 tie this morning would be broken by Ken Rush, a county legislator who missed today’s vote.

Rush had surgery for carpal tunnel on Monday. He stayed home this morning, recovering from surgery.

But Rush said he supports the budget that calls for a 5 percent tax increase. It would raise the tax rate from $9.71 to $10.11 per $1,000 of assessed property.

“I don’t want to see a tax increase but the people have got to have a budget,” Rush said when contacted after the Legislature meeting.

Three legislators – Don Allport, Henry Smith and George Bower – opposed the budget, saying the tax increase was too much. Allport said department heads should be required to reduce spending by 10 percent in their departments.

Rush said the department heads have already worked to rein in spending.

“I don’t know what more can be done with it,” Rush said.

He wants to see the county work towards upgrading its emergency communications system. The budget includes a $475,000 initial debt service payment on the radio system upgrade. Rush said he wants that project to go forward.

The Legislature could have another vote on the budget before a Dec. 20 deadline. If the budget fails to pass, the tentative budget would take effect, which is identical to the one that was deadlocked in a vote earlier today.

Photos by Tom Rivers – County Legislator George Bower, right, states his objections to the budget. Legislator Don Allport, left, also opposed the $79.8 million spending plan.

ALBION – Orleans County legislators failed to approve a budget this morning that would raise taxes 5 percent and also fund a long-awaited upgrade to the emergency communications system.

Three legislators – Don Allport, George Bower and Henry Smith – all opposed the budget. Chairman David Callard and legislators Lynne Johnson and Bill Eick both supported it. Legislator Ken Rush was absent. The budget needs four votes to pass.

The Legislature has until Dec. 20 to approve a budget, or the tentative budget submitted by Chuck Nesbitt, the chief administrative officer, will take effect. Nesbitt submitted that budget to the Legislature on Nov. 13 after working with county officials since late summer on the document.

The impasse on the budget frustrated Callard, Eick and Johnson who demanded a rationale from the three legislators who opposed it. Callard said the three against the budget haven’t voiced concerns in recent months about the spending plan. He asked them to provide specific recommendations for cuts after they said the tax increase was too high.

“The government should be run like a business,” Allport responded.

He said some county positions should be made part-time. He said department heads should have been forced to reduce their budgets by 10 percent. The department heads should have been told to identify job cuts and other cost savings.

Callard said it’s up to legislators to make those decisions, not the department heads.

Allport said he would lay off workers in social services, who work with residents to access welfare.

“If people on welfare have to stand an extra hour or two in line that’s not my problem,” Allport said.

Callard said the county is mandated by the state government to provide programs, including social services. The county has eliminated 40 jobs in county government in recent years, including several positions in social services.

Allport as a legislator has the highway department as one of his committees. Callard asked Allport if he had recommendations for cuts in the highway department.

“No,” Allport said. “I’m told they’re understaffed.”

Allport faulted the state and federal governments for shifting costs to the local government, forcing the county to be “the evil people.”

Legislature Chairman David Callard voted for the budget, as did Lynne Johnson, in front, and Bill Eick. Henry Smith, back left, opposed the budget.

Smith said he couldn’t make any specific recommendations to cut the budget, but he said the county can’t simply blame the state for the tax increase.

“There has to be cuts made,” Smith said. “Although the state and federal governments push down to our level, we still have to respond.”

Callard pressed Smith by emphasizing the county has to provide mandated services and the radio upgrade is badly needed. That $7.1 million project will require a $475,000 debt payment for the first time in 2014.

“How do we respond?” Callard asked Smith. “What specifically would you recommend? We’ve had a year to work on the budget and now you vote against it.”

Bower said he opposed the process for putting together the budget. He said legislators seemed left out of the decision making. They used to work with department heads to shape the budget and that didn’t happen this year, Bower said.

He wanted reasons for the escalating costs of community college charge backs, which total nearly $2 million a year for Orleans, and Bower said he didn’t get answers.

He cast the lone nay vote last February when the county created a local development corporation to sell the nursing home. Bower said the Legislature should have handled that process, rather than handing off its responsibilities.

Bower has requested the bid proposals for the nursing home and has been denied those numbers. The LDC board has cited confidentiality of a real estate transaction for not making the proposals public. The board doesn’t want to see the price drop for the nursing home. The potential buyers could lower their offers if they see what the others have bid for the 120-bed Villages of Orleans, Nesbitt said.

Bower offered one specific cut. The Office for the Aging has two directors, he said, and one should go. The agency actually has a full-time director, Melissa Blanar. The past director, Pam Canham, has retired but she continues to work as a part-time assistant director. When Canham was full-time, Blanar was a full-time assistant director.

The county has reduced its staffing for the top two management positions, reducing a full-time position to part-time, Nesbitt said.

The Legislature has another meeting scheduled before Dec. 20. The Dec. 11 regular meeting is at 4:30 p.m. Legislator Ken Rush could be at the session and could cast a fourth vote for the budget to pass. Callard sets the agenda for the meetings and he could opt to not put the budget on the agenda. The tentative would automatically take effect.

The county had a public hearing on the budget Monday. Only one resident voiced a concern about the 5 percent increase. Paul Lauricella, vice chairman of the County Conservative Party, said the 5 percent tax increase is too high.

He attended this morning’s meeting, again opposing the tax increase. He was critical of the welfare programs that will increase county costs by $558,000 in 2014.

“Welfare dehumanizes people,” he said. “It puts people in a mindset of dependency. It’s destroying our country. Those that are capable of working should work.”

Callard responded: “Let the record show that I agree with Paul Lauricella.”

For more on the budget, click here to see an article from Monday’s public hearing.

Welfare, radio upgrade, nursing home main culprits

Photos by Tom Rivers – Orleans County had a public hearing on its budget tonight inside the county courthouse. Chief Administrative Officer Chuck Nesbitt is standing at the podium. About 30 people attended the hearing

ALBION – Orleans County property owners will see the average tax bill go up about 5 percent with county taxes in 2014, according to a proposed budget.

The budget totals $79,786,629, a 4.8 percent increase over the $76,133,318 in 2013. Property taxes account for about 20 percent of the revenues to pay for the budget. Property taxes would increase 5.0 percent, up from $15,661,104 to $16,441,366.

“A 5 percent increase is unacceptable,” said Paul Lauricella, vice chairman of the Orleans County Conservative Party and the lone resident to speak out during the hearing. “Come on guys, give us a break.”

The budget increases the tax rate 40 cents from $9.71 to $10.11 per $1,000 of assessed property. The fee for solid waste and recycling is up $5 to $190 for the year.

The tax impact could have been worse, but the county will see its pension contributions drop by $169,376 to $4,271,017. The county’s health insurance costs also will go down by $157,340 and worker’s compensation is budgeted to decrease by $100,376.

But the declines aren’t enough to offset other big increases, including $558,000 more for welfare costs with most of that the result of cost shifts in the Safety Net program. The county also is upgrading its emergency communication system for $7.1 million. The county will make its first $475,000 debt payment for the project next year.

“The coverage will be virtually 100 percent,” Chuck Nesbitt, the county chief administrative officer, said about the radio system’s signal strength throughout Orleans. The current system has many weak spots, especially on the eastern and western ends of the county.

“It will be an incredibly significant upgrade,” Nesbitt said.

Sprint Nextel is paying $3.3 million towards the upgrade and a federal Department of Homeland Security grant will also pay $2 million of the project.

Chuck Nesbitt details the county budget during a hearing tonight.

The county will also repair the Waterport bridge over Lake Alice for $1.5 million, with the county responsible for 5 percent of the project or $75,000. The Hulberton Road bridge will be replaced at an estimated cost of $1,386,970. The county will pay 5 percent or $69,348. The federal government pays 80 percent with the state covering the other 15 percent.

The nursing home will consume about $1.9 million from the county. The 120-bed Villages of Orleans, which the county is trying to sell, is forecast to operate at a $2,734,844 loss. The operating expenses are budgeted at $11,817,649 and revenue totals $9,986,502. That leaves a $1,831,147 gap. The county also has to pay $903,697 in debt service for recent renovations and an expansion at the site in 2007. That adds up to a $2,734,844 loss for 2014.

The county and federal government will each contribute $825,000 in Intergovernmental Transfer (IGT) shares that help offset Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates that don’t fully cover expenses.

In addition to the IGT, the county will use $1,084,844 from a reserve fund. County officials say those reserves will soon be depleted. If the nursing home stays county-owned, the tax burden would be significantly higher in the future once the reserves are gone, legislators have said.

Legislators did get some praise after the budget hearing. Charles Pettit, a member of the board of directors for the Cornell Cooperative Extension, thanked the county for not cutting the Extension. Legislators have budgeted to maintain the same funding for agencies that receive county dollars.

Here are the funded agencies and how much they receive from the county: Cornell Cooperative Extension, $219,150; Orleans Economic Development Agency, $150,000; Soil and Water, $57,750; Libraries, $10,000; Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, $1,000; and the Sportsman’s Federation, $500.

The Legislature will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday to vote on the budget. That meeting will be in the legislative chambers at the County Clerks’ Building.