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Legislature Approves Judge's Decision on Marathon Battery Property Tax Settlement As County Executive Appeals It
Advanced Life Support and Flycar Services funding fails in Legislature
by Margaret Sternberg
At its August 7, 2007 meeting, the full Putnam County Legislature approved a resolution which did not authorize any appeal of the June 21, 2007 decision by Justice Andrew P. O'Rourke in which the judge decreed that $475,000 would be the sum Kearney Properties pays to settle all back taxes and interest on the Marathon Battery Property in Cold Spring. The decision makes no mention of two acres that Kearney has said he would turn over to the village.
Two days later the County filed an appeal of the decision on July 23, 2007 in an effort to obtain approximately $1.1 million in back taxes and interest it claims is owed. The dispute hinges upon whether taxes are owed on the property for the years 1983-1996.
In the seven to one vote, with only Chairman Dan Birmingham voting against, legislators voiced support for the ruling, pointedly saying that appeals would be costly and serve no purpose. Tom Rolston, owner of The Depot Restaurant in Cold Spring and co-chairman of the Western Putnam Economic Development Council, later addressed the legislature, urging acceptance of the judge's ruling and maintaining that it was a good decision for all involved.
Legislator Vinny Tamagna was asked about the two acres that went unmentioned in the judge's decision. Admitting that there is nothing in writing from Kenneth Kearney, owner of Kearney Properties, Inc., Tamagna said, "He's [Kearney] not going to pull a stunt. Ken Kearney has worked a long time with the village and the mayor. He's had a lot of positive meetings with the mayor and the town board…He wants to present a lot of ideas to the village."
Tamagna continued that all of the ideas that Kearney had presented to the village had included the two acres he would donate, which were designated for village parking as well as a community-based structure that could be used for a health or community center, or a large scale, multi-purpose facility to be used for village hall meetings or as a meeting place for large groups.
Tamagna said, "I believe Ken Kearney is an honorable man. I believe the relationship he's built with the mayor has brought them to a point of trust. At the end of the day, this is a win-win for everyone."
County Executive Bob Bondi was not as sanguine. Bondi said that the County has had to deal with "speculators" over the years, saying that "the County should never be a silent partner in real estate speculation," explaining that the County enforces the payment of tax arrears in the same way on businesses as it does on residential homeowners.
Mr. Bondi said the County had tried to negotiate with Kearney on the payment of the back taxes, but no agreement could be reached.
Mr. Bondi added that "If he [Kearney] can't pay 100 percent of what he owes, the County will partner with the village."
The Marathon Battery issue was not the only one in which the Legislature was in opposition to County Executive Bondi. The Legislature also failed to pass a resolution that would have allowed $116,250 in contingency funds to be used to pay for advanced life support/ flycar services within Putnam through the end of the year.
The current provider, Empire Ambulance Service, has given the required 90-day notice in order to terminate its contract with the county, and will cease operating in Putnam October 1, 2007. Empire claims it is operating at a deficit with its current contractual rate with the County.
Chairman Birmingham explained that the county program had been implemented as a pilot program and that with the County already facing a number of budget-related issues, it would be inadvisable and imprudent to spend that much money in the one area.
Birmingham also noted that the State Comptroller's report on Putnam National Golf Course had cited the County for not having used the RFP (Request for Proposals) process in selecting vendors, and that had been the case in the decision to retain Empire. Birmingham said he would have been more at ease with the expenditure had an RFP gone out rather than relying on the current provider.
Legislator Tony Hay commented that the service was "not intended to be only a county-project and was supposed to have been a partnership with the towns."
With the exception of Legislator Sam Oliverio, who voted for the resolution, saying, "Putnam Valley makes great use of this service," but otherwise in agreement with the idea of the RFP process, and Legislator Robert McGuigan, who was absent, all other legislators voted against approval.
In an epilogue to the vote, Deputy County Executive John Tully advised the legislators that the County Executive would be putting $950,000 in the 2008 budget for a county ambulance service.
Birmingham later said that his caution was based upon "protect[ing] the taxpayers and getting the services we are paying for." Birmingham said that he could not give a definite figure on what the County could afford to pay for that type of service, but that he wanted to "see what the County Executive forecasts…I'd like to see if he is going to be entertaining any proposals from any other EMS services, local hospitals, or ambulance and fire districts."
Birmingham iterated what he had said during the meeting, "Keep in mind that the Administration, yet again, did not go out for an RFP for service. We got hammered by the Comptroller last month for this very issue for the [Putnam National] golf course. The RFP forces the county to slow down and, in choosing a service provider, have it be a more deliberative process."
Mr. Bondi said, "The EMS service is something the people of the county cannot live without especially since Butterfield Hospital closed," adding that the flycars "bring emergency services out into the field." Bondi described it as an "essential, core service that must continue."
Mr. Bondi said that an RFP would not work in the case of a county ambulance service, explaining that there are four vendors licensed to operate in the county and that when an informal RFP was done initially, two of the four providers declined to submit an RFP. Of the two finally submitted, Mr. Bondi said that Empire's proposal was "by far" the lower. Mr. Bondi said the county legislature should "get real and not hide behind the boilerplate [language] of the State Comptroller's office."
Mr. Bondi said the County was now doing everything it could to minimize costs, adding that there is now no hospital in the County that wants to do this type of service, and there are no other services for the County to subsidize.
The legislature also approved a resolution to fund two of the eight state-mandated corrections officers the state has required the County to hire. Without much comment other than some relief that the County was permitted to hire the remaining six officers next year and thereby budget for them in advance, the pro-rated fiscal impact was $43,294. The eight officers are expected to cost the county an additional $500,000.
The September meeting schedule of the full legislature will be posted on the PCN&R's website as soon as it becomes available.
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