No one wants to hear that his
taxes are going up. No more welcome
is news of local jobs being
lost because of budgetary
constraints. Yet we cannot find
much fault with Otsego County’s
2010 budget, which was the result
of much wrangling and numbercrunching
by the county board and
the county treasurer’s office.
Facing rising costs and decreased
revenues, County Treasurer
Myrna Thayne presented a tentative
budget in November calling
for an increase to the property-tax
levy of more than 11 percent. The
budget would also have cut nine
jobs from the sheriff’s workforce.
By the time the county board approved
the budget, it had evolved
significantly from Thayne’s proposal.
While the sheriff’s department
kept its employees, as well as its
boat patrol, other jobs were lost.
STOP-DWI Coordinator Karen
Liddle spoke out against the board’s
decision to eliminate her position,
calling it unethical and possibly
illegal. Her duties have been transferred
to the sheriff’s department
_ a move Liddle argued could set
up a conflict of interest, since the
department is among the beneficiaries
of STOP-DWI funding.
While we have sympathy for
Liddle’s desire to keep the job she
loves, we feel the county has taken
appropriate steps to guard against
any conflict. Since proposed STOP DWI
budgets go through the county
board before being submitted to
the state, there would be no way for
the sheriff to “take all the money
and put it into his program and
no one else is going to see it,” as
Liddle suggested.
At least one more county employee
_ geographic information
systems coordinator Marybeth
Vargha _ will also be out of a job.
Vargha has overseen the county’s
mapping system for the last eight
years. The fruits of her labors can
be seen on the county’s website,
where intricate, interactive maps
show school districts, wetlands, tax
parcels, historic districts, Empire
Zones and more.
County officials have bemoaned
the loss of Vargha, and we agree.
The online maps _ which represent
only a fraction of her work for
the county _ are an amazing tool
for the public to access. We hope
the county is able to continue providing
this valuable service without
her expertise.
The budget includes other sacrifices
that aren’t pleasant to face.
Efforts to restore funds for senior
meals sites were stymied. Funds
for arts organizations were cut, and
money for additional 911 dispatchers
wasn’t approved.
While we bemoan these losses,
we know the county’s task was
monumental, and the outcome
could have been
