The county-wide budget cuts proposed by the Board of Supervisors as cost-saving measures for the coming year were not popular with residents at a recent public hearing.
On Thursday, Dec. 1, nearly one hundred people attended the meeting to condemn the cuts. It was the only planned public forum held by the county and some residents were forced to spend the three-hour meeting in the hall because of the lack of space.
Residents decried plans to cut funding to facilities like the Brookside Museum and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, a 3.5 percent property tax increase and a proposal that could potentially add new costs to retired county employees. The tentative budget proposed by County Administrator Spencer Hellwig III would reduce spending by about $7 million, but those in attendance felt the budget should be balanced another way.
“There was certainly a lot of passion expressed and we heard it loud and clear,” said Board Chairman and Town of Saratoga Supervisor Thomas Wood.
Of the nearly 60 residents who spoke out at the meeting, about one-third showed support for the restoration of funds to the Brookside Museum. Executive Director Joy Houle said the proposed cut of the $11,250 subsidy to the museum represented a full year’s utility bill or one of their Native New York programs.
Eliminated from the budget was funding to SPAC, the Hudson Mohawk Urban Cultural Park, Capital District Regional Planning, the County Fair, and the money set aside to purchase fireworks for Saratoga’s First Night celebration. In addition, reductions were made to the Economic Development Corporation and the loan approved for the Saratoga Water Authority was decreased to $1 million..
While plans to raise the county sales tax were shot down by the board, the proposal to raise the property tax for the first time in nearly a decade is still on the table. The average county property tax rate would rise from $2.15 to $2.23 per $1,000, or a $16 increase for a house assessed at $200,000. Hellwig also suggested asking retirees and employees hired after 2001 to contribute 15 percent to their health insurance plans, while ending the reimbursement of Medicare Plan B co-pays.
Sandra Arnold Spaulding of Greenfield told supervisors at the meeting she worked 25 years for the county and took early retirement last year mostly because of the great health care benefits. She is counting on the Medicare to supplement her insurance when she becomes eligible.
“We sacrificed our salaries for this insurance,” she said. “I have been retired for less than one year now, and I’m already struggling.”
David Johnson of Malta spoke on behalf of his wife, a retired county employee. He said the new co-pay would be 20 percent of her pension, calling the proposal “unreasonable.”
Another man said the Medicare Plan B had originally been added to the county insurance plan to supplement the insurance provided by the county. He said if the co-pays are not reimbursed, many retirees will just drop the plan, which will raise premium rates for the county in the long run.
“He’s probably right,” said Wood in an interview after the hearing.
A Labor Relations Specialist with the Civil Service Employees Association, Mike Nixson, said at the meeting any attempts to cut benefits would be met “with swift and stiff legal challenges from CSEA.”
“For the county to be contemplating breaking these contractual benefits for retirees, who are most likely living off fixed incomes, is truly regrettable,” he said
Attendees urged the board to oppose the costly mandates placed on counties and school districts by the state, calling the “illegal.”
“It’s time for us to stop accepting these unfunded mandates. Raising taxes is not the solution,” said Lisa Donovan of Ballston, adding that if the county sued the state, other counties would follow suit.
Wood said the mandates were half the reason the county has a budget issue in the first place. “Suing isn’t plausible, but we should certainly lobby our legislators to change the laws and get this burden off the backs of the counties.”
Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett called cuts to facilities like SPAC a “drop in the bucket” compared with the overall budget and expects restorations to be made in the final budget. Wood agreed.
“I feel there are larger areas where we can derive significant savings and revenue,” said Barrett, citing the landfill and possibly the Maplewood Manor Nursing Home. “I want to concentrate on those areas and hope the board goes in the right direction.”
A final vote on the budget us scheduled to take place at a Dec. 14 meeting.
