By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
At the conclusion of Otsego
County’s full-board budget
workshop sessions, the 2010
tentative budget called for a
tax-levy increase of about 30
percent.
The board is not done working
on the budget. County Board
Chairman James Powers said
Friday that the final budget
will raise taxes far less.
Powers said that he, the
county’s Administration Committee,
and Treasurer Myrna
Thayne would meet soon to go
over the numbers.
``We want to see exactly
where we stand and take it
from there,’’ he said. ``I can tell
you this: we’re not going end up
with a large tax increase.’’
Powers said he believes the
county board can whittle down
expenses to an acceptable level
without laying off employees.
``That’s something I don’t
want to do to our people, especially
in a recession,’’ he said.
``We have very good county
workers.’’
To try to keep expenses
in check, the
county board Wednesday
instituted a hiring
freeze. The board also
opted not to give department
heads a raise
next year, a move that
Powers opposed.
``I think this is unfair
to some of our best
workers,’’ he said.
Rep. Stephen Fournier,
R-Milford, said he,
too, opposes belt-tightening
at the expense of
managerial employees.
``I worry that we could lose
some key individuals,’’ he said.
However, Rep. James Johnson,
R-Otsego, chairman of the
county’s Administration Committee,
said the board faces
stark choices this year as salestax
revenue has declined about
8 percent, or roughly $3 million.
``I think it comes down to
pavement or payroll,’’ Johnson
said. ``Do we want the county
to continue to deliver essential
services, or do we want
to have a jobs program?’’
Johnson said he proposed
that all county
departments with more
than 9 employees come
up with a plan to reduce
their workforces by 10
percent.
``The board doesn’t
seem ready for that, but
I don’t see any way we
can balance this budget
without reducing our
workforce,’’ he said.
A proposed new contract
between the county and
CSEA, calling for increases of
about 3 percent a year, is going
to drive up labor costs by millions
of dollars.
``At the same time, the
state is telling us we have
to contribute 15 percent
more into the retirement
system,’’ Johnson said.
``We’re being hammered
on all sides.’’
Rep. Donald Lindberg,
R-Worcester, chairman of
the Otsego Manor Committee,
said he essentially
agrees with Johnson.
``I don’t think we can
cut every department,
but we have to cut some
of them,’’ he said Friday.
``I also think we have to
look at what we’re paying
outside agencies like
Soil and Water and Cooperative
Extension, and
maybe it’s time the board
and M&C; (managerial and
confidential) employees
paid more for their health
insurance.’’
The county’s managerial
employees pay 5 percent
of their premiums,
compared to the 20 percent
paid by CSEA workers.
Lindberg, who voted
against the 2009 budget,
said his peers should
have known they were
overestimating revenue
for this year.
``Now we’re short this
year at the same time
we’re trying to get ready
for next year,’’ he said.
``It’s a mess.’’
Earlier, Lindberg said
he hoped the county could
transfer up to $3 million
from the nursing home’s
budget to the county budget.
He said Friday this no
longer seems possible.
``I’m told the state is
taking another $1 million
for Medicaid, and the new
contract is going to drive
up the Manor’s labor
costs by $700,000,’’ Lindberg
said.
In future years, labor
costs for a host of county
departments will continue
to rise under the proposed
contract, he said.
``If we don’t cut our
workforce, I don’t think
it’s too much of stretch
to say that eventually we
could bankrupt the county,’’
he said.
For years, Otsego County
has relied on sales tax
to generate most of its revenue,
but the outlook for
next year is uncertain.
Powers said he believes
the economy will
rebound on consumer demand.
``I don’t think people
are going to go back to
washing their clothes in
the creek,” he said.
Johnson said he believes
2010 may be ever
tougher than 2009.
