Calling the MTA payroll tax the most “regressive, job-killing measure that I have seen in all my years of government service,” Orange County Executive Edward Diana opened his 201l State of the County address assailing those mandates that are draining county coffers while praising the ability of the county to manage to maintain services to its more than 380,000 residents during one of one of the most serious financial crises the country has faced.
In stark contrast to the state”™s budget crisis, Diana said Orange had a balanced budget for calendar 2011, which began Jan. 1 totaling nearly $716 million, a 1.5 percent increase over 2010. Orange is one of two counties that has received a triple A bond rating in the state ”“ a point Diana made in speaking of the county”™s fiscal responsibility to its residents.
He pointed to nearly $4 million in cuts made in the 2011 budget: “It”™s a difficult task, considering nine New York mandates consume 80 percent of Orange County”™s property tax. Absent these mandates, including Medicaid, public assistance, child welfare, preschool early education, probation and youth detention, we would have been able to reduce our taxes much more than we had. Mandate relief is no longer an option. These services need to be re-evaluated at the local level where they are administered.”
Saying Medicaid in its current form is unsustainable, “it looks nothing like the program initiated in the 1960s to serve as a simple safety net to provide for the health and welfare of its residents.” County real property tax owners will pay $73.5 million in 2011 to support the program. “The cost paid per recipient is three times higher than any other state because New York requires 39 services be provided, even though the federal government only requires 19.”
He urged federal lawmakers to support the permanent funding of the federal medical assistance program (FMAP), a Medicaid-matching rate to help states pay for the shared cost of Medicaid, and praised the cost savings the county realized through its managed medical transportation service, which he said has been adopted statewide as a model program.
State pension costs are also out of control, continued Diana, pointing to $22 million Orange budgeted for state pension costs for 2011, an increase of $5.2 million over 2010. “Yet, we have little or no control over the pension benefits awarded to our own employees.” Diana said by 2014, state-required county contributions “will consume 25 percent of our entire county property tax levy.”
Currently, the future of Valley View, the county”™s skilled nursing home, is under discussion. Operating at a yearly deficit, Diana said, “It”™s current subsidy is $18 million … the review of Valley View is being done in a responsible manner that takes into account many aspects of government-run health care facilities.” Several workers were laid off in a cost-saving measure; to date, 13 of them have been retrained and rehired.
A new county Department of General Services was created to centralize procurement, government operations, contract compliance and grants. “The new department is working with the Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance to pool customers to bid out power to private electric service companies, which has resulted in significant savings for the county,” Diana said.
Orange has also applied for membership in the Hudson Valley Local Government Cooperative Purchasing Project that allows counties, municipalities and nonprofits to pool purchases to reduce costs.
Despite being rebuffed in 2010 for suggesting the county tear down its government center and consolidate all county agencies onto one campus, Diana reiterated the need for a replacement for the county office building. “We are moving forward with a cost analysis study and look forward to seeing the result of the findings.”
Other completed projects were touted: upgrades to Orange County Airport; completion of phase one of the former Gonzaga retreat property in the southern part of the county for a new park; and an updated county comprehensive master plan, as well as a wastewater management plan.
The county is working to consolidate Orange County Sewer District No. 1, obtaining a $49,000 efficiency grant from the state to help fund the cost of establishing a governing body to facilitate the water treatment and delivery to the county when the time comes, Diana said.
The under-30 segment of the population did not go unnoticed: With Kaplan Hall and the New SUNY Orange open for business ”“ “coming in on time and under budget” ”“ the county is forging ahead to provide quality education for residents. At the same time, Diana questioned the reasoning behind the state”™s decision to stop financial support for county youth bureaus. Pointing to the success of Center for Hope in Newburgh, he urged state lawmakers not to cut funding.
Diana told residents he was available to them through the county”™s upgraded website and looks forward to feedback from residents on how the county is doing. A complete copy of Orange”™s 2011 budget can be found at orangecountgov.com/content/124/1244/default.aspex.
