State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation – The Oak Orchard Marine State Park, a boat launch with bathrooms on the west side of the Oak Orchard River, has been run by the county since the state threatened to close it in 2010, citing a budget crunch in the parks department.

CARLTON Three years ago, then-Gov. David Paterson took the budget ax to 41 parks and 14 historic sites under state ownership, shutting them down.

The Oak Orchard Marine State Park, a boat launch and bathrooms on the west side of the Oak Orchard River was targeted to be closed by the state.

Orleans County officials wouldn’t let that happen. They worked out a deal to keep the site on Archibald Road open, paying to mow the lawn, clean the bathrooms and look after the property.

County officials estimated there are about 7,000 boat launches from the site each year. The county has continued as the site’s caretaker since then, spending about $10,000 to $20,000 a year to keep the boat launch open and the bathrooms clean.

The willingness to assume keep the state site open shows the county’s commitment to the fishing industry, its top tourism attraction, which generates about $12 million in spending a year. A chunk of that goes to the state in sales tax revenue and fishing license fees.

The state’s budget crisis has passed and I think it’s time for the state to resume operations of this site.

I’ve been told a deal is in the works. It may include an automated machine that would allow the state to collect money every time a boat is launched. The county has been letting people use it for free, not wanting to pay someone to man a booth to collect a boat launch fee.

I give the county lots of credit for stepping up in this situation. Now, the state should take care of its own property, or at least cover the county’s costs.

Photo by Tom Rivers – The most recent community-wide reassessment in the village of Albion cut almost $3 million in the village’s overall tax base, a 2 percent drop that was the biggest decline in the county.

It’s time to launch a “Save The Villages” campaign, and in this case I mean the real villages of Orleans County – Albion, Holley, Lyndonville and Medina.

The village neighborhoods in Orleans County are in trouble. The numbers paint a grim picture.

Every three years the towns in Orleans County reassess all properties. This generally results in a 5 to 8 percent growth in the tax base over three years, as prices are adjusted to reflect the market values, said Dawn Allen, the county’s real property tax service director.

I’ve been a reporter out here for 17 years now. The data came out last month and this is the first time I can recall a reassessment leading to a decline in the values for several of our communities. The villages, in particular, are suffering. Overall, the county grew about 1 percent.

All four had their housing values drop, with Albion showing a 1.9 percent drop or a decline of $2.65 million in overall property value. That shrinks the tax base for the property owners to pay for government services, likely pushing up the tax rate. The Village Board in April approved a budget that raised the tax rate 3.0 percent or 49 cents per $1,000 of assessed property. It increased from $16.37 to $16.86.

Lyndonville’s tax base is also down by 1.2 percent, a decline from $28.90 million to $28.55 million.

The other villages in Orleans – Holley and Medina – have witnessed shrinking values in recent years. Medina for example dropped $658,131 in an off reassessment year in 2012. Holley fell $653,185 for its most recent fiscal year.

The new reassessments, which go in effect for the villages’ budget for next year, actually show overall gains for Holley and Medina due to big properties coming on the tax rolls.

Medina Memorial Hospital sold Orchard Manor for $4.1 million, putting a tax exempt property back on the tax rolls. That helped Medina stave off a decline in latest reassment. It made up for a $2.15 million drop in the other values in Medina.

Holley also would have showed a negative number but the Holley Cold Storage was put back on the tax rolls at a $1,760,730 assessment. The company had been off the tax rolls and paying local governments in a payment in lieu of taxes plan.

Allen watches the real estate market in the villages with worry. She sees homes that used to sell for $60,000 to $80,000 sometimes go for $20,000.

She said denser populated areas, whether cities or villages, are struggling in other communities in upstate New York.

“All of the villages are in bad shape,” she said. “It’s not just Orleans County.”

She thinks the high taxes in the villages are a culprit in the assessment plunge. Medina Mayor Andrew Meier agrees. He has believes the tax structure unfairly punishes villages property owners, who are double and triple taxed for many services.

He advocates for consolidating the village of Medina into the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby, so there isn’t such a disparity in the tax rates between the village and residents who live in the country.

Village residents pay about $12 more per $1,000 in their combined tax rates, compared to residents outside the village in Shelby and Ridgeway. For an $85,000 house, that’s $1,000 more in taxes annually if you live in the village. It’s a similar phenomenon for village residents in Albion and Holley who pay far more in taxes than their country counterparts.

Meier has sought exemptions from the towns in highway plowing for village residents, who already pay for village taxes for plowing. The outside-village residents don’t pay towards Medina’s plowing, police, and other costs. Yet, the village residents pay in the village and then in the town.

Meier thinks the villages with police department should get a discount in their county taxes because they are sparing the county that expense.

He also said the county should change the way it shares sales tax and mortgage tax with the villages, in particular, so they have more money to offset property taxes. Otherwise, he fears the values will continue to fall in the villages, forcing the tax rate to go higher, which will only hasten the decline of those communities.

I’m solidly in Meier’s corner on this one, and I wish more village officials would sound the alarm. I’d like to see the town and county governments not be so stingy while the villages are drowning.

I live in the village of Albion. I think the DPW, police and other village government workers have done a fine job keeping this community together. But I don’t think it’s right the village bears nearly the full cost of Mount Albion Cemetery, the parks program and so many other services that are used by outside-village residents.

The county often complains about the state freezing reimbursements, but the county hasn’t increased the local sales tax share to the villages or towns in more than a decade. The county keeps more than 90 percent of the sales. Genesee County does a 50-50 split with its municipalities.

Orleans County has benefitted from a surge in sales tax in the past decade – mainly due to rising gas prices – and that has helped the county stay under the tax cap. But the villages don’t have the luxury of added sales tax. It can only raise taxes or cut services.

I’ll have more on this formula in another article, and I’ll try to make the case why it needs to be changed, why it’s imperative the county share a little more with the local municipalities.

The new reassessments show trouble signs in other communities as well. The lakefront communities, which people may perceive as being home to the most prosperous residents, are seeing declines in values. Kendall and Yates both dropped. Carlton froze its values after an uproar from the community over many properties with big increases. The town’s overall value did go up to reflect some building projects.

“The economy is affecting the lakefront towns,” Allen said. “There isn’t the demand for the second homes anymore.”

Collaboration with Genesee County Health Dept paying off

ALBION – Orleans County expects to save $130,000 annually in the cost of transporting pre-school children with disabilities to early intervention and supportive health programs.

The county approved a five-year deal on Wednesday with the Genesee ARC for busing children, ages 3 to 5, to program sites in and out of county. The county was able to group its busing needs with Genesee County’s, and that joint application drove down the costs for both counties, said Paul Pettit, director of public health for both counties.

Orleans has been working with Ridge Road Express for its transportation, while Genesee has hired Attica Bus Services. The counties are obligated to work out the transportation for children with disabilities, ages 3 to 5, according to a state law.

Counties list the service as one of the “9 for 90” state-mandated programs that stress county budgets. The nine programs consume more than 90 percent of most counties tax levies, according to the New York State Association of Counties.

Orleans and Genesee’s transportation contracts expire this summer. Genesee ARC will start Sept. 1.

The contract calls for Orleans to pay $38.83 per child for each round trip within the county, and $214.63 for daily trips outside the county with another $61.25 for a bus aide for a round trip. Those costs are “significantly less” than what Orleans has been paying, Pettit said.

Genesee and Orleans have been sharing a public health director since October in a shared service initiative, the only one of its kind in the state. Legislature Chairman David Callard praised the initiative for yielding savings to taxpayers.

The two-county effort has yielded another benefit: a free staffer for the next two years. The two counties submitted an application to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention for a public health associate fellow. The application was approved and a public health specialist will be placed in the two counties the next two years.

Orleans had applied for the associate the previous two years, but was denied. Pettit believes the collaboration with Genesee gave the counties a stronger application this round.

“We’re able to essentially get some free help over the next two years,” he told Orleans legislators.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – Elizabeth Meyer, 17, of Medina served milk punch to Orleans County legislators and other attendees of today’s County Legislature meeting, including Legislature Chairman David Callard, right.

Elizabeth is the 2013-14 Niagara-Orleans dairy princess. She was assisted by her father, Larry, in serving the milk concoctions. Mr. Meyer is well acquainted with local farmers. He is the county director for the Farm Service Agency.

His daughter, who will be a senior at Medina High School this fall, has worked the past three years at Gasport View Dairy, feeding calves. She said she enjoys watching the animals get bigger.

She delivered a speech to county legislators about agriculture, praising farmers for their mechanical knowledge, their effort financial management and environmental stewardship.

Legislator Ken Rush, R-Carlton, then a read a proclamation from the Legislature, declaring June “Dairy Month.”

ALBION – Orleans County has stepped up its welfare fraud investigations in recent years and is poised to double those efforts.

“We can’t ignore it,” Legislature Chairman David Callard said about welfare fraud. “We have to deal with it. People need to know in Orleans County that we’re serious about it.”

The county has been increasing the recovered dollars in welfare fraud and “avoidance,” welfare that is sought but isn’t approved because the applicants aren’t eligible for the benefits, said Tom Kuryla, the Department of Social Services commissioner.

In 2009, the county recovered $37,000 in welfare fraud, and prevented $352,000 in benefits from going to people who weren’t eligible for welfare, he said.

The numbers have steadily increased since then. In 2010, there was $40,000 recovered and $1,245,000 prevented. In 2011, $76,000 was recovered with DSS avoiding $1,358,000 in ineligible benefits, Kuryla told legislators today.

Last year, the lone welfare fraud investigator recovered $85,000 and DSS prevented another $1,598,000 in ineligible benefits.

Kuryla said the DSS’s lone fraud investigator has 50 caseloads and responds to another 40 to 50 inquiries a month. That is a heavy caseload, Kuryla told legislators.

The Legislature approved his request to not fill the position of a recently retired child support specialist, and instead hire a second fraud investigator. District Attorney Joe Cardone also endorsed a second fraud investigator.

“It would more than pay for itself,” he said about the position.

He noted the recent case of a woman who accessed $40,000 in childcare benefits when she didn’t send her child to daycare, instead keeping the money for herself. The alleged crime was detected and she was charged with fraud.

Kuryla said DSS will be better able to investigate people on welfare long-term, who may be claiming a disability is preventing them from working. DSS also wants to check people using emergency housing assistance in hotels. Those people may not be aggressively pursuing other less costly housing.

Kuryla doesn’t begrudge needy people from accepting welfare on a temporary basis, but he said fraud “is breaking the backs of taxpayers.”

ALBION – A friend has let me borrow a high-powered zoom lens for a couple days during graduation weekend. I wandered up to the courthouse tonight to see how the lens would handle this great landmark building.

The dome on the courthouse, built in 1858, is a striking sight coming up Route 98 and from many of the side streets in Albion. The Courthouse District as well as Albion’s downtown are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

I grabbed a photo of Main Street and one of the stained-glass windows at the Pullman Memorial Universalist Church.

Lawsuit sought to disband LDC, force public referendum

Photo by Tom Rivers – A State Supreme Court judge didn’t find fault with the Orleans County Legislature’s decision to transfer The Villages of Orleans to a Local Development Corporation that is tasked with finding a buyer.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature crossed an important legal hurdle when a State Supreme Court ruled the county acted legally in transferring the publicly owned nursing home to a Local Development Corporation.

A local resident Mary Bannister and nursing home employee Dawn Hazel, who has family in The Villages of Orleans, challenged the Legislature’s decision in court.

Judge James Punch issued a decision on Tuesday, supporting the county in all key aspects of the case. The decision allows the Legislature and the LDC to keep working towards a sale of the 120-bed nursing home. County officials learned of the judge’s decision at 11:45 a.m. today.

“The discussion regarding the nursing home has been a very emotional one, but the ultimate goal has always been to ensure its long-term sustainability,” said Legislature Chairman David Callard. “Now we must return to our goal for The Villages: to continue to provide a high quality of care for our residents, maintain its jobs, preserve its programs, and continue its community ties without dire financial consequences to the taxpayers.”

The lawsuit sought to disband the LDC, to vacate the transfer of nursing home property to the LDC, to compel the issue to be brought to a public vote, and to restrain the LDC from negotiating transfer of The Villages to another operating entity.

The county’s attorneys argued that Bannister and Hazel failed to establish any harm in the Legislature’s decision to create the LDC, and their allegations were “speculative claims as to future actions.” The county attorneys said the LDC ownership did not change the current operations, staffing or delivery of services.

Punch agreed, noting the employees have continued as county workers and the county continues to control the operation of the facility.

The county argued in court the decision to create the LDC and transfer ownership were “proper tools to use for cost analysis and cost containment.” Legislators worry the facility will require a $2 to $4 million annual subsidy from the county taxpayers due to rising operating costs and slowing reimbursement rates.

“I commend my colleagues in the Legislature for having the courage to make this very difficult decision.” – Legislature Chairman David Callard

“The choice here hasn’t been about privatization versus public ownership,” Callard said today after the court decision was announced. “It has been about maintaining the facility or losing it altogether. We can no longer delay the decision and hope everything will be all right. That is fiscally irresponsible and brings grave uncertainty.”

The petitioners in the lawsuit sought a public referendum on the issue, contending the county created the LDC to circumvent public discourse. But Punch sided with the county, saying it acted within its rights in the Not-for-Profit-Corporation Law.

The Legislature, in a 6-1 vote, created the LDC on Feb. 27. Callard noted it passed in a super-majority vote. Only Legislator George Bower opposed it, and he warned the deficits at the site could force the county to take up the issue. He said then he was opposed to the timing because the Legislature had said it wouldn’t sell the facility until 2014.

That may be an ambitious time frame, even with the decision to create the LDC four months ago.

The LDC – the Orleans County Health Facilities Corporation – met this afternoon.  The three-member group, headed by former Yates Town Supervisor Russ Martino, moved forward with selecting a broker to establish a value for the nursing home and identify buyers for the site.

The LDC picked a Chicago firm that specializes in selling nursing homes to help with the sale of The Villages. Marcus and Millichap’s National Senior Housing Group will receive 2.5 percent of the sale price for its services. The firm is assisting nine other New York counties in selling their nursing homes.

The firm said it will identify a buyer by the end of a year, a sale that needs to be approved by the state Department of Health. Marcus and Millichap said it would target January 2015 for the sale to be closed and the new owner in operation at The Villages.

“The actions being taken are intended to balance the interests of the residents, the employees, and the taxpayers,” Callard said. “I commend my colleagues in the Legislature for having the courage to make this very difficult decision.”

The three casinos in Western New York owned by the Seneca Nation of Indians will see a portion of their profits directed to counties in the region, according to the “Upstate NY Gaming Economic Development Act,” which was announced by Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday.

The legislation doesn’t specify dollars for the counties in the region, but Orleans County is expected to get a tiny slice of a big pie. The state will share 10 percent of the gaming revenue it receives from casinos and video gaming centers “to provide tax relief or educational assistance,” according to the legislation announced on Wednesday.

The bulk of the state’s casino and video gaming revenue, 80 percent, will be used for school aid or property tax relief. “The educational aid will be additive and will not be part of the state’s existing education formula,” the legislation reads.

The Senecas keep 75 percent of the casino profits with 25 percent directed to the state, which currently then gives some to host cities in Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca.

The legislation announced on Wednesday would direct some of the state’s share of the casino profits to counties in the region while preserving the funds to the host communities.

The revenue sharing is part of a plan to develop four Las Vegas-style casinos in Upstate New York, all outside of WNY.

Press release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

ALBION – Sheriff Scott Hess is pleased to announce that 12  children from Orleans County will attend the NYS Sheriffs’ Association’s Summer Camp this year on Keuka Lake in Yates County.

The Sheriffs’ Summer Camp is designed to provide a solid recreational program combined with the development of a sense of good citizenship. The camp has been in operation since the mid-1970s and is supported by the NYSSA’s honorary members through their contributions and annual dues. This year, as in the past, the camp will accommodate hundreds of deserving kids from across the state from June 23-29.

Throughout their week-long stay, these children will observe special exhibits and demonstrations presented by Sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement personnel from across the state. Included are D.A.R.E. presentations, boat and bicycle safety programs, law enforcement equipment & technical demonstrations, pistol & archery competitions, and a talent show.

Upon completion of their stay, all campers will be awarded a certificate for their participation in a program of “Good Citizenship & Law Enforcement Studies.”

The following children are the 2013 Orleans County attendees: Nathan Olmstead, 9; Samantha Pozzobon, 12; Zarya Robinson, 12; Jessica Twardowski, 12; Jesse Perez-Weese, 11 – all from Albion.

Jonathan Zittel, 12; and Joshua Zittel, 9 – from Clarendon. Saleya Williams, 10; and Sunny Rushing, 12 – from Gaines. Travis Gotts, 11; and Ethan Nottingham, 12 – both from Medina. Richard Sewar, 11, of Ridgeway.