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2008 County Budget Concerns Prompt Outcry on Funding
Outside budget review receives lukewarm response
by Margaret Sternberg
A special meeting of the Putnam County Legislature's Budget & Finance Committee was convened May 29, 2007, and the meeting was fully attended by representatives from various libraries in the County as well as a representative from the Putnam Arts Council and the Cornell Cooperative Extension, all of whom had come to speak on behalf of retaining the current level of funding by the County for their organizations in the 2008 budget.
Their concern had been prompted by Legislator Vinny Tamagna's statement that because of the issues with the County's budget, all funding in the 2008 budget would be on the table for review and possible decrease or elimination.
Also attending was Commissioner of Social Services Mike Piazza, who discussed the impacts County funding reductions would have on various agencies, in particular, for Putnam Family & Community Services, which is now a private agency and was spun off by the County in 1997. Piazza noted that, under law, the County is required to provide for the mental health needs of its residents, and that the existence of the agency allowed the County to end operations of its own clinic in an attempt to cap costs.
Should Putnam Family & Community Services close, the County would be required to re-establish a county clinic and, Piazza said, that clinic would require a budget considerably higher than what is currently necessary. Piazza also noted that funds provided by the County to all social service agencies leverage state funding, and any reduction of funding on the county level would have far greater repercussions in state funding to the county agencies.
Legislator Sam Oliverio was adamant about not cutting funds for any agency dealing with "quality of life" issues, noting that for the last three years funding had plateaued for the libraries and other entities while their costs had risen so that their funding had, to all intents, decreased. Oliverio, sounding exasperated, said that if the state representatives listened and lowered school taxes, the discussion on cutbacks would not be necessary.
Tamagna said he had raised the issue of funding now, rather than September, so as not to "pull the rug out" from the agencies relying on county funding, adding that it was healthy to have the discussion now and to look for alternative sources of funds earlier rather than as the budget was being prepared. Tamagna said raising the issue now gives "fair warning about what we might, or might not, be able to do...At the end of the day, tough decisions have to be made."
Legislator Regina Morini, discussing cuts in funding that might have an impact on people who work at agencies, described it as an "insult" to these people who might be cut "before thinking of other things," adding she was" livid" at the County being required by the state to hire eight new corrections officers at a cost of approximately $500,000. She noted the sheriff had not seen the need, and the County does not house violent criminals.
Pat Kaufman, Director of the Mahopac Public Library said that County funding had enabled the library to open Sunday, and that withdrawal or decreasing of funding would force that to end. She also noted that opening on Sunday had been in response to requests of people in the area.
The Committee also learned that the 4-H Fair sponsored by the Cornell Cooperative Extension would be in jeopardy.
Chairman Dan Birmingham subsequently announced that he would not vote for a decrease in funding to the outside agencies for the 2008 budget because of the lack of increases over the last three years and because he felt the money was well-spent in terms of returns to the County in tourism dollars.
In another budget-related issue, Legislator Tamagna's suggestion to have the County hire an outside auditor to review the budget in order to find efficiencies ultimately received a luke warm reception when confronted with research that had been done by Legislator Tony Hay.
Hay had received copies of outside budget reviews performed for Westchester and Dutchess Counties. Armed with the materials, Hay said that there was nothing in the reports that could not be derived through serious effort by anyone who wanted the information, and that engaging someone for at least $60,000 to compile this type of report was a waste of money.
Hay said that he couldn't find "almost anything" in the reports that was not covered in budget books he had brought to the meeting. Hay questioned how thorough the outside report would be given the short amount of time involved for the auditor to compile the report. Hay also questioned whether the other county legislatures had the same degree of involvement in the budget process as Putnam does, implying those counties might have a greater need for an outside analysis than Putnam, and concluding he would not support an outside auditor review.
The committee decided to continue investigating the advisability of doing the outside review, but made no move toward authorizing that one be commissioned.
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