Sharing the plow
Ulster County wants to outsource its snowplowing services. And if that works, the longer-term plan is to outsource maintenance on county roads, but not to look too far. The county wants to outsource highway work to the local towns.
To save money, Ulster County officials are seeking agreements to have towns plow county roads next winter via contractual arrangements they hope to sign by next September, when local highway supervisors have to finalize their budgets for the following year. They say ultimately savings could run into the millions if the full decentralization of highway services succeeds as expected.
Towns are under no obligation to sign on, but are being offered a revenue sweetener if they agree to make the deal, a slight surcharge on their per-mile costs, revenue they can apply to the town general fund. The theory is that the town highway department can plow the county roads which they have to pass over anyway en route to the town roads, more cheaply and more quickly than county crews can get there. Currently, town vehicles ride those roads with their blades raised and sanders off, leaving them messy until county plows arrive to clear their turf.
“As a county we cannot continue business as usual,” said County Executive Mike Hein, speaking at a press conference Jan. 4 where he announced the plan. “Reinventing government is essential, there is too much redundancy, duplication of services and unnecessary expenditures.
Â
“Its not a matter of a county taxpayer or a town taxpayer,” said Hein. “They are all the same taxpayer.”
Â
Hein was joined at the event by Pattern for Progress President Jonathan Drapkin and by Gerald Benjamin, director of the SUNY-New Paltz”™ Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach.
The county, Pattern and SUNY are completing a $270,000 state-funded study on inter-municipal cooperation and say this is the first fruit of their efforts. The final report is due to be released in about two months and will include recommendations for streamlining county courts and coordinating economic development efforts. There are “numerous opportunities and numerous barriers,” to create better cooperation, Benjamin said.
An academic expert in state government, Benjamin also has experience in county government, having served as chairman of the Ulster County Legislature in the 1990s. He noted he frequently hears complaints about government studies making recommendations that are never implemented. “This is implementation of a far-reaching report,” he said adding his “ambition” was to create a situation where Ulster County serves as a pilot program for implementing other “best practices” initiatives for New York state.
The plowing agreement is, in effect, the easiest part of the effort. There are already many counties in New York, including Dutchess, Sullivan and Orange Counties where this type of intermunicipal agreement is in place to provide a template for the change Hein seeks.
New Paltz town Supervisor Toni Hokanson also attended the press conference and supports the plan. She said that public officials at all levels in New York state foresee a grim new year, with rising costs and diminishing revenues throughout 2010 and beyond. “There really is no end in sight,” said Hokanson. “So this is a glimmer of hope.”
Of the approximately 1950 miles of road in Ulster County (not including state highways), 1528 miles or 78 percent are town roads and 425 miles or 22 percent are county roads.
Â
The county is geographically one of the largest in New York and has an enormous diversity in topography. The plan is to work out a cost-per-mile yardstick for the additional plowing done by towns and then add a surcharge that towns can use in any manner they choose.
Â
Though many details remain to be worked out, Hein said that county taxes can be reduced even with a surcharge paid to towns for the plowing. And he said town coffers will benefit from the additional revenue at a time when state aid is in jeopardy due to projected budget deficits during the current fiscal year and even larger deficits looming for 2010-2011.
Savings would accrue to the county because it could reduce its current workforce of 140 highway maintenance workers. Hein said the reductions would come through attrition and job transfers and perhaps through buyouts. He said county CSEA leaders and county DPW commissioner David Sheeley were aware of the plan and were in accord with it, though neither Sheeley nor union officials were at the press conference.
Other savings would accrue through joint capital purchases for trucks and possibly through fewer highway facilities. The county already has 11 salt sheds and many towns also have such facilities. It is uncertain what will become of them if the plan becomes fully operational.
Ultimately, officials hope to contract with the towns to do warm-weather maintenance on county roads as well as cold-weather servicing.
Hein said there will still be a county highway department. “It will be smaller and more technically specialized,” he said, suggesting, for example, the county would retain its capacity to build and maintain bridges and could share those services with the towns.
A committee of town supervisors, town highway superintendents, county legislators and other officials will negotiate the details of the proposal and submit a preliminary report to Hein within 45 days.