Farley votes against proposal on the grounds that it provides little relief in the long run
The Schenectady County Legislature passed the 2011 budget of $292.9 million on Tuesday, Oct. 5, during a special meeting in a 12-to-1 vote.
Minority Leader Robert Farley, R-Glenville, cast the dissenting vote. Absent from the meeting were Brian Gordon, D-Niskayuna, and James Buhrmaster, R-Glenville. Conservative Holly Vellano voted with the Democrats to secure the budget approval.
I’m happy to put forth a budget that provides property tax relief to residents of our county, while preserving the essential services we provide, said Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna, chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature, at the start of the meeting. `We’re able to provide this relief at a time when it is needed the most, because of our past efforts to budget conservatively and identifying innovative ways of saving money.`
Savage state mandates, including increased pension costs, Medicaid costs and public assistance strained the county budget. Those three areas accounted for a $5.1 million increase from 2010.
The total amount used from the fund balance is $9,586,461, which is an increase compared to 2010’s nearly $5.2 million. Since 2000, there were three times the fund balance use exceeded 2011. In 2006 $10 million was used, 2004 used nearly $12.8 million and 2003 used almost $9.97 million.
The Democrats touted the fact that the budget provided a 0.2 percent property tax reduction for residents of the county.
`A 0.2 percent tax reduction is still a reduction,` said Legislator Philip Fields, D-Schenectady, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Farley said he didn’t believe the budget provided any tax relief for residents in the long run.
`I am deeply concerned about a number of things that are presented in our budget,` said Farley. `It is not a tax cut when you overestimate, in my opinion, your sales tax. It is not a tax cut when you use $9 million in surplus to bring it down to even.`
The proposed minority amendments included 33 resolutions and nine legislative initiatives, but Farley didn’t get a second to vote on his amendments since fellow Republican Buhrmaster was not at the meeting. Farley said Buhrmaster was out of state due to an illness in his family.
`The fact that we could not even get a second for amendments is what it is,` said Farley.
Geoffrey Hall, clerk of the County Legislature, said he had sent out a memo to all members of the Legislature to notify him of any dates that would be a conflict for scheduling a budget vote meeting. Hall said that out of a 21-day period, Buhrmaster had a conflict on 15 days.
`There was two members unavailable that night, every other night there were several members that were unavailable,` said Hall. `It was not an effort to exclude anyone, it was an effort to include as many people as possible.`
Hall said Buhrmaster didn’t indicate he would be out of town for a family illness, but he indicated he would be `out of town for a family vacation.`
If he was dealing with a family illness, Hall said he wasn’t made aware of the situation.
Deputy Chairman Vincent DiCerbo said he didn’t think the proposed amendments from Farley were substantial.
`I don’t think amendments that do nothing other than score political points are correct,` said DiCerbo. `No budget is perfect and I dare say if we went through this budget again, I’m sure we’d find some other areas on the margin, but this is as close to a good budget as we come tonight.`
Farley said he felt the budget approval process was rushed. The Legislature publicly met twice for budget review meetings and held a public hearing on the budget the night before the Oct. 5 vote.
`I cannot support a budget that I believe is Swiss cheese,` said Farley. `It’s got a lot of holes in it; it’s got a lot of unproven programs in it.`
One of the unproven programs Farley contested was the 2011 cost strategy, called the Medicare Maximization Project, which is estimated to save $700,000 in the budget. While Farley does believe it will save money, he said he is unsure how much money it will save and thinks it will fall under the estimated amount.
`I believe in jumping off the tracks before the train comes by. I suggest we all do that same,` said Farley. `On that basis I will vote no.`
Another effort noted to reduce the budget was cooperation with municipalities in the county to offer shared services.
`We have tried our best to consolidate functions of governments with other municipalities, we have succeeded with the City of Schenectady,` said DiCerbo. `We’ve run into some problems with some other municipalities because unfortunately egos get in the way and people simply don’t want to give up their power, and they’ll always find an excuse why they can keep their little empires, but after 10 years, maybe we are finally on the way to solving that also.`
One thing all the legislators present agreed on is that the county is paying too much into Medicaid, with the 2011 budget allotting $33.1 million toward costs. If the state took over Medicaid, which is common in other states, Schenectady residents would see a 50 percent tax cut, said Fields.
The majority amendment, which was unanimously passed, called for the state to take over Medicaid from the counties.“