Albany County is running out of money and its government is “fractured” but County Executive Dan McCoy in his first State of the County address said he had plans to “provide the leadership necessary” to make it healthy again.
“I need the cooperation of the leaders of all 19 municipalities, all 39 members of the county legislature and most importantly, you, my fellow citizens,” said McCoy in his Monday, March 5, speech.
McCoy said he was committed to finding a way for the county to tighten its belt while maintaining core services. Among the biggest hurdles blocking that goal are unfunded mandates, he said, but it’s hoped relief is on the horizon.
“We have received some good news on the state level with the Medicaid redesign team appointed by Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo calling for a state cap on expenditures. This is a step in the right direction and limits growth for 2013 that we can build into our next budget,” said McCoy.
This year’s county budget sits at about $560 million and holds an 8.7 percent property tax increase. McCoy said Medicaid costs make up about $63 million, or 77.2 percent of the tax levy, which works out to be a year-to-year growth of about $1.5 million. Cuomo’s Medicaid cap would limit that growth to $1 million.
Pension costs and welfare are also big-ticket issues affecting the county’s ability to operate within a leaner budget, said McCoy.
“(Pension costs) add up to $23 million or 14.3 percent of the tax levy,” said McCoy. “Public assistance accounts for 10 percent of the tax levy, and that’s for temporary assistance and safety net with early intervention and pre-school education, adding up to 8 percent of the tax levy. Our ‘I owe yous’ are adding up.”
McCoy addressed the “elephant in the room,” the Albany County Nursing Home, and laid out four choices for the future of that facility.
“Keep running things the way they are, which means we build a new facility and run it. We professionalize with an outside management company. We are exploring the option of a public benefit corporation. Public-private partnership — transfer the license to a qualified third party,” said McCoy.
McCoy said his support of the nursing home would “never waiver” and he had numbers to present to the legislature in the coming weeks about what the cost and impact of each option would be.
Michael Breslin, McCoy’s predecessor, attempted to tackle the nursing home issue several times during the final years of his administration. Each time he pushed for selling or privatizing the nursing home, he was rebuffed by a Legislature staunchly in favor of keeping the facility under county control. McCoy was the chairman of the Legislature before being elected as county executive last year.
McCoy said he is in talks with leaders of local community colleges to make sure taxpayer money is spent effectively. He said Albany County taxpayers are responsible for $11 million in community college tuition, $9 million of which goes to Hudson Valley Community College.
“The Rensselaer County Legislature has capped what it pays Hudson Valley at $3.2 million. I’ve met with HVCC and they’ve told me they will not give us a break on our payments,” said McCoy.
The key is to partner with other community colleges and to consider regionalizing community colleges or creating an Albany County Community College, he said.
“We will explore every option,” said McCoy.
The county’s financial future is grim, he said, especially with the loss of sales tax and interest in earnings revenue from 2008-10.
“We have two issues at play—a structural deficit in 2012 and a potential gap going into the 2013 budget,” said McCoy. “The reality is the county is close to running out of money. We need to borrow to keep the cash flowing. … This means we’re spending more money than we’re taking in and as you can see, it’s not a pretty picture.”
Business is instrumental in generating tax revenue and McCoy said he has plans to pursue economic development by “creating an incubator at 112 State St.” that will provide local entrepreneurs with the free space, phones and other tools to concentrate on making a new business work.
“We will be able to do this by partnering with area businesses, including Tech Valley Communications, who has agreed to supply the necessary telephone and Internet lines,” said McCoy.
Much of the work to revive Albany County finances and government lies in the future, but McCoy said there are some things achieved in the first two months of 2012 that are steps in the right direction.
“We are working on the consolidation of departmental administrative functions to create efficiencies, starting with the departments of health and mental health,” said McCoy. “We have changed some of our billing practices and collected over $600,000 by doing this.”
McCoy said he had plans to use grant money to establish a countywide Domestic Violence Court to help local courts and establish consistency.
