The Budget Crisis: County needs to immediately get back to bargaining table

Labor-Management Partnership-not major tax increase- vital to close budget gap

By Alan Sorensen

Recently, I wrote about the critical need for the County Legislature not to wait until the last minute to come up with decisive solutions to fix Sullivan County's budget crisis.

Part of that process includes determining early in this stage what increased labor costs, if any, we will have to meet and to discuss new labor relations policies and procedures in light of the tough road ahead fiscally for the county.

While a public hearing is already set for August 16, 2012 to discuss a provision to allow the Sullivan County Legislature to override the 2% tax cap on property taxes, the collective bargaining process that will fix our labor costs between the County Government and its unions has not even begun.

This is a major mistake.

Again, we can't assume that sticking our taxpayers with a double digit property tax increase and wiping out any reserves that are left are the solutions to resolve our budget dilemmas.

I will not vote for such an increase.

Before the County Legislature entertains a double digit tax increase, it should first initiate labor negotiations with its unions to see where we can work together to achieve sufficient savings to avoid the need for broad layoffs or cuts to services arising from the gap in the County's projected operations budget.

These are extraordinary times where increases in pension and health care costs, coupled with declines in County revenues, requires an agreement that balances shared sacrifice with fairness and respect to both employees and taxpayers.

The longer we put off the negotiations, the less likely we will be able to achieve such a balance.

In hindsight, the 2009-2012 labor agreement reached between the County and its employees was not sustainable. The County's 0% Real Property Increase in 2011 only made matters worse. As a result, the County had to layoff employees and deplete its reserves just to close the budget gap.

The solution: We need to strive for a labor agreement that would be a win-win for employees and the County.

The Cuomo Administration and CSEA reached such an agreement in 2011, which entailed no general salary increase in early years along with increases in the employee contributions to health care.

We can look to this State model for guidance while crafting an agreement that fits the needs of the County and its workers.

In the end, there will have to be some shared sacrifice to close the budget gap. We can't avoid this discussion for one more moment.

The County needs to get back to the bargaining table-and have an open and honest discussion with the unions about how we work together to reach a sustainable agreement that benefits the entire County.

 On May 28th, remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom on Memorial Day

They are dead; but they live in each Patriot's breast, And their names are engraven on honor's bright crest.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

Monday is Memorial Day, which is a holiday we celebrate to honor all those brave Americans who have died in the various wars fought during our history. 

Originally called Decoration Day, this tribute day was first proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  It was first recognized as an official holiday in the United States in 1873 by New York State.

While Memorial Day has become a Federal three-day holiday and often denotes the beginning of the summer season in resort areas like SullivanCounty, it is meant as a day of remembrance of the men and women who served in our armed forces.

There are a number of Memorial Day events this weekend in Sullivan County.  In District 9, a service will be held at the Sullivan County Government Center at the Veteran's Memorial at 10:30 a.m.  In addition, the Veterans Service Agency will hold a memorial service and wreath laying ceremony lead by Master of Ceremonies John Crotty at the Sullivan County Veterans Cemetery on Sunset Lake Road in Liberty later that day at 1pm.

Save on your energy costs by accessing "Sustainable Sullivan County" Website!

New resource helps Sullivan County residents become more energy efficient in their homes and businesses!

http://sustainablesullivancounty.org/

Sullivan County recently launched a great new website where county residents can find unique ways to make smart energy and cost saving investments in their homes and workplaces!

The new website, which is designed to help residents and business owners lower their energy use and save money on their utility bills, provides valuable information about how they can take advantage of State and Federal tax credits and incentives, energy conservation and other helpful interactive tools.

In addition, local residents can find out how to secure free/low cost home energy audits from the website.

Local businesses that offer green building products or services can also become a sponsor of the Sustainable Sullivan County website to reach interested prospects and customer leads.

Access to the website is free and residents can sign up to receive a monthly newsletter, which provides valuable information and updates on energy conservation measures and new Federal and State Agency and local utility incentive programs, which are periodically provided by NYSEG, Central Hudson and Orange & Rockland Utilities.

The new website was recently developed through a partnership between the County of Sullivan and Blue Springs Energy LLC, an organization that helps communities participate in clean energy programs.

The idea of retaining Blue Springs Energy to develop the website dates back in the Spring of 2009, when I invited Larry Simpson, President of Blue Springs Energy to make a presentation before the Governmental Services Committee. Following a February 2012 presentation to the Sustainability Committee of the County Legislature, the measure finally received the endorsement of the Sullivan County Legislature.

Sullivan County has many green businesses and organizations helping the community lower utility cost, save energy and reduce our environmental impacts. This website will help continue to make Sullivan County homes and businesses more energy efficient.

Progress made in Expanding Open Government in Sullivan County

MONTICELLO -  I am happy to report that important changes in the way we govern are starting to be made by the new Sullivan County Legislature.

Last Thursday, the Sullivan County Legislature decided to abolish the Steering Committee which met every Tuesday with the County Manager and others to discuss important county business and create new policy. It consisted of the Chairman of the Legislature and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Legislature.

As I wrote in my last blog, this "Steering" Committee and its procedure was an impediment to good government because it placed important policy decisions in the hands of only 3 out of the 9 county legislators. It also limited the flow of important information and the contribution of each legislator in formulating county policy.

I had stated in an interview on the radio program Making Waves on WJFF on January 31st that I would refuse to participate in any Steering Committee meetings in the future as Minority Leader. The River Reporter also reported that the Steering Committee concept may also be a violation of the Open Meetings Law.

The Sullivan County Legislature will now instead be holding two open Executive Committee meetings where all nine legislators will participate in discussion that were taking place at these Steering Committees.

I applaud the actions of my fellow legislators, particularly those newly elected ones, who are keeping their promises to make changes and explore reforms for our County Government to promote equal sharing of information and decision making power among all nine legislators.

I would also like to credit former District 8 County Legislator Ron Hiatt for first suggesting this important change.

Now, to continue with more new ideas that I am asking my colleagues in the County Legislature to consider:

#4 - County Legislature should conduct all its business strictly in the late afternoon and/or at night, like all the town and village boards in Sullivan County.

The County Legislature also has decided to hold quarterly night meetings of the full County Legislature, with the first one taking place in April.

That's a great start. I would urge all of my readers to attend if they can. Kudos again to those members of the new legislature for considering night meetings as an important element of open government.  

During my first term of office, I had attempted to change our meetings to late afternoon or at nighttime (they now take place three Thursdays a month during the working day) to allow our working constituents to attend the meetings. That proposal was not allowed to make it out of committee for a vote by all nine legislators.

I also initially was successful in having our full County Legislature meetings simulcast, but that too was stopped shortly after it was started.

This action to hold quarterly meetings at night by the new County Legislature make our sessions more open and assessable to the people of Sullivan County and are an important step in inviting more participation by the public in our deliberations.

However, I will continue to be a proponent of late afternoon and/or night meetings for all our sessions. 

The real County Legislature business is done in the committee meetings which take place starting at 9am on the first two Thursdays of the month. I firmly believe we should be also holding these meetings late afternoon and simulcast them too. 

More importantly, if all the County Legislature meetings were held starting in the late afternoon, it would open the idea of running for County Legislature to many more individuals who work five days a week during the day and can't get a full day off to go to participate in County Legislature meetings. 

For example, there has never been a teacher on the Sullivan County Legislature-they can't take time off from work during the school day. They represent an important, smart segment of people who would make a great contribution to our County if they could run for the office and participate in county government. 

Right now, only those who own their businesses, don't work or are retired, or get special permission from their employers to take every Thursday off, can run for the job.

Thus, all County Legislature meetings should be held late in the afternoon or at night both in terms of better open government and allowing more people to run to be County Legislators. 

Please send me feedback about what you think of these ideas!

Look for more proposals for good government in Sullivan County from me in the coming days and months-Alan.

Continued IDA benefits to keep The Lodge in Rock Hill open critical to District 9 & Sullivan County

Recently, after a public hearing was held, the Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) granted an application by local businessman Butch Resnick, the anticipated new owner of The Lodge in Rock Hill, to continue IDA benefits received by present owners RHH Land, LLC.

With The Lodge closed and the prior owners on the brink of foreclosure, Resnick plans to buy the facility and renovate it to make it a first class lodging facility.

It is imperative that the IDA benefits be extended to Resnick and that he be allowed to renovate the facility-which is located next to Bernie's Restaurant, another business recently bought and renovated by Resnick.

The longer The Lodge is closed and sits vacant, the more likely it will fall into disrepair or be transformed into some other form of accommodation, which would detract from the Rock Hill business district.

Resnick hopes to reopen the 74-room lodge, complete with a pool and 7,000-square-foot ballroom, by Memorial Day.

Presently, The Lodge property is covered by a Payment-In-Lieu of Taxes agreement through which the IDA collects a PILOT fee, which is shared by the IDA, County, Town and School District.  Under the terms of the new PILOT, the existing payments to these entities are anticipated to remain about even.

Resnick would save $125,000 in property taxes over the course of the multiyear agreement and save $17,000 on mortgage taxes.  The IDA Lease and PILOT Agreement will enable Resnick to renovate the hotel and reopen it for business as a hotel, which will help fulfill a critical need for tourist and business class rooms in our area.

Rock Hill has a growing business community, thanks to the worthy efforts of local business owners, the Rock Hill Business Association and the locating of Crystal Run Healthcare in the Emerald Corporate Center.  This lodging facility has always been an anchor for this business community and has historically generated much business for Rock Hill and the Town of Thompson.

We can ill-afford to have a 74 room lodging facility sitting vacant in the middle of a vibrant business district!

The IDA renewal of the benefits given to RHH Land, LLC will give The Lodge a new lease on life and enable Resnick to transform the hotel into a business establishment that contributes to rather than detracts from the Rock Hill Business District.

Thus, granting the new owner's request for continued IDA benefits was a win-win for all parties involved. 

Any tax revenues being continued to be waived by the county will be made up with room tax generated from a busy motel operation and sales tax generated as visitors spend their dollars in Sullivan County.

I wish Resnick much success in his endeavors and know that if the outcome is half as grand as the transformation of Bernie's, we'll have great accommodations for visiting business associates, friends and family.- Alan

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Honor those who served on Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day & God bless our military

by Alan Sorensen

Monday is Veterans Day.  It's a time when our nation reflects on the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made to keep us a free and vibrant nation throughout our history.

Veterans Day is a time to contemplate the cost of our freedom-and to honor the courage of those who have given everything, some the ultimate sacrifice, to defend it. 

Veteran's Day is an opportunity to offer our most sincere thanks to not only our veterans but our active duty, reserve, and guard forces, who make up the most professional and powerful military the world has ever known.  

The men and women of our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard are in our hearts and prayers not only on Veteran's Day, but every day.

There are a number of Veteran's events taking place this weekend and Monday throughout Sullivan County to honor our local Veterans and to recognized their great sacrifice and service for our local residents.  Please click here for a list of them and come to one or more of these events.

There will be a Veteran's Day Parade in Woodbourne on Saturday, November 10th starting at 1:00 pm.

Let's all honor and thank our local veterans this weekend!

So on behalf of myself, Jane, and my family, have a Happy Veterans Day, God bless our military, and may God continue to bless the United States of Americaeteran's Day is an opportunity to offer our most sincere thanks to not only our veterans but our active duty, reserve, and guard forces, who make up the most professional and powerful military the world has ever known.

The men and women of our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard are in our hearts and prayers not only on Veteran's Day, but every day.

There are a number of Veteran's events taking place this weekend and Monday throughout Sullivan County to honor our local Veterans and to recognized their great sacrifice and service for our local residents.  Please click here for a list of them and come to one or more of these events.

There will be a Veteran's Day Parade in Woodbourne on Saturday, November 10th starting at 1:00 pm.

Let's all honor and thank our local veterans this weekend!

So on behalf of myself, Jane, and my family, have a Happy Veterans Day, God bless our military, and may God continue to bless the United States of America

2013 Sullivan County Budget Crises:Legislature needs Tentative Budget ASAP to make tough decisions

 MidHudsonNews.com: Sorensen critical of Sullivan state tax cap override

By Alan Sorensen

You know that old saying “Some things never change?”

Once again, the County of Sullivan is facing a major budget crisis. The budgetary decisions we face are daunting.

The projected shortfall in the upcoming 2013 budget is now estimated to be $13.5 Million. It would take a 27.1% increase in real property taxes to close this gap without an increase in other revenues or a reduction in County expenses.

The County is now halfway through the year of 2012 and the figures for the projected shortfall of the 2013 budget so far have changed every month, increasing from 14% to 20% to 27.1%.

Furthermore, there has not been an accurate analysis from each department about where they stand on the current 2012 budget, let alone accurate projections for 2013.

But rather than moving the budget process up in order to deal with this major budget crisis, the process is being delayed.

The County Manager has requested that department heads submit their budgets by August 21, 2012.  This is several days after the August 16th public hearing to discuss overriding the 2% real property tax cap. That's unacceptable.

It appears the administration has taken it for granted the County Legislature is going to approve the lifting of the 2% tax cap and it will allow a large tax increase to fix this mess.

What County Legislature is lacking today is information of what cost cutting measures, if any, are going to be proposed and how big a tax cap override is being requested by the County Manager.

The answers to these questions should be known before the Legislature is asked to vote to override the tax cap.

In light of the public hearing to override the 2% cap, the right way to address this problem now would be for the County to immediately take austerity budget measures and start contract negotiations with its Unions.

But of course, that’s not happening.  And we are quickly running out of time. That's unacceptable too.

Shortsighted fiscal policies from prior years are once again threatening the fiscal integrity of our county government.

The 2012 Adopted County Budget appropriated $6.3 million of the Fund Balance to close the budget gap in 2012, leaving an Undesignated/Unreserved Fund Balance of a mere $2.5 million.

Our county government must avoid the repeated bad fiscal practices of past years, which closed the budget gap with one-shot methods of depleting important reserve accounts set aside for future expenditures and emergencies to pay for overspending and to balance a bad budget.

In the past, the County Legislature dedicated a multi-million dollar reserve fund to offset future landfill closure and post monitoring costs, a prudent management practice of planning ahead and systematically saving for capital acquisitions and other.

Once established, this reserve was not supposed to be touched to pay other bills.

A big concern I have is now the administration may recommend that the County Legislature use landfill closure monies to balance a terrible 2013 budget.

That is very unacceptable.

The most critical challenge right now facing the County Legislature is to recognize that the current budget process needs to change.

The County Legislature needs to have a Tentative County Budget sooner rather than later.

The longer we wait for it, the less time we’ll have to make tough, informed decisions.

We need a Tentative Budget by October 1st, not November 15th, to make educated and proper choices in handling that harrowing deficit and try to keep spending below the 2% tax cap limit.

We also can’t under any circumstances deplete those landfill reserve monies-and should put them back in a designated reserve fund.

The County Legislature needs to finally take a stand and say: “no more games” - and prove that “some things do change” when it comes to proper spending in county government in Sullivan County.

It's time to hold County Legislative meetings after working hours-and to simulcast them too!

In May, with little fanfare, the Sullivan County Legislature held the first of 4 quarterly meetings after working hours at the Sullivan County Government Center.

Judging from the large turnout of the recent evening meeting, there appears to be a lot of folks in Sullivan County also who have long desired to attend County Legislative meetings.

From the start of my term in office, I have been advocating that all County Legislature meetings be held at night. I introduced resolutions in 2008 and 2010 calling for evening meetings of the Legislature, but both efforts were met with stiff opposition and were defeated.

This new legislature gets it-and started the quarterly meetings at night to allow folks with regular 9-5 jobs to start attending meetings.

Even the incumbents are coming around- one who had opposed night meetings espoused at the meeting how it was a positive that the Legislature was making itself available to the public by holding an evening session.

Night meetings are extremely important in terms of achieving full, open government in Sullivan County.

We need as much participation, input, and observation by our voters to make the County better run and more responsive to the needs of our constituents.

Most, if not all, of our town and village governments and school boards in Sullivan County already hold their meetings after business hours.  Why shouldn’t the County Legislature too?

If government meetings are held during the day, most of the electorate can’t take time off of work to attend these sessions. 

More importantly, if the political jobs are part time like the county legislator positions are, then people who work during the day can’t run for office because they don’t have the flexibility to take time off from their jobs to attend legislative meetings.

So right now, only self employed business people, affluent people who don’t have to work a regular job and retired individuals can really consider running for County Legislator.

Just think, for example, there has never been a teacher that served on the County Legislature.

In terms of open governance, while these quarterly evening meetings are a start, we need to go all the way not only by making all the County Legislature meetings at night, but also webcasting the meeting so every one of our constituents with a computer can watch live the meetings or view them at their convenience on the Sullivan County website.

Thanks to a grant from Senator John Bonacic, our Legislative meetings were webcast for a period of six (6) months in 2008-2009.

These webcasts provided constituents with their first unfiltered view of the Legislative process and made it possible for those with day jobs to watch Legislative proceedings at their leisure.

Unfortunately, the County Legislative then refused to support to continue to provide this relatively inexpensive open government public service.

Today, we have a new Legislature and in the spirit of open government, I would ask them not only to make all meetings after working hours, but to also support permanently webcasting both the legislative committee and full-board meetings-even special meetings too.

In past blogs, I have introduced a series of new ideas that I am asking my colleagues in the County Legislature to consider in the spirit of changing the way Sullivan County is being governed.

Based on the success and popularity of last week’s night meeting, here is another:

#5 – That all County Legislature meetings are to be held after normal business hours and that they all be webcast to allow Sullivan County residents, and the world, to view the proceedings.  A special email would be provided to allow input from those viewing the meetings by webcast to be sent to County legislators to review and respond to.

I am encouraged with the progress toward making changes that will provide more open government in Sullivan County since the new County Legislature took office.

I will be introducing resolutions in the near future to make all meetings at night and simulcast by webcast.

It’s the next step toward changing Sullivan County government for the better - Alan.

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New Ideas on Open Government for the Sullivan County Legislature

MONTICELLO - I recently joined six newly elected County Legislators and two reelected incumbents in taking the oath of office to serve the people of Sullivan County for the next four years.

In the Election of 2011, the voters of Sullivan County sent a clear message that they are tired of "politics as usual" that has been the trademark of County Government for too long a time.

I plan on continuing my efforts during the next four years to help turn this county around and build a new government that will fulfill the recent mandate of the election.

I am really looking forward to working with this exciting new, progressive group of County Legislators in helping to make some important changes to make Sullivan County government less costly, better, and more efficient.

Our new legislature needs to immediately set goals and create an agenda for the next four years to create open government for our citizens, to help our small community businesses and farmers build and prosper, to reduce crime and improve the quality of life Sullivan County residents, to improve ethics and standards in county government, and to institute important initiatives to help otherwise stimulate and build our villages and hamlets in Sullivan County.

In the next few weeks and months, I plan on presenting new ideas and suggestions to help create a better county government to my fellow legislators and Sullivan County residents and plan on working closely with my colleagues to institute changes that will turn around Sullivan County.

Here are the first three of many ideas I would ask the Sullivan County Legislature to consider in the near future:

#1 - In terms of organization and open government, we need to make sure that there is fluid, equal communication between the county administration and ALL nine legislators in both policy initiatives and day-to-day concerns that may arise.

Right now, there is a "Steering Committee" composed of the Chair of the County Legislature, Vice Chairman, the Minority Leader, and the Majority Leader, who meet on a weekly basis with the County Manager to discuss important county business.  This "steering committee" has evolved to be an impediment to good government by limiting the flow of important information to four instead of nine legislators and placing important policy decisions in the hands of just a few.

I reluctantly attended my first Steering Committee as Minority Leader this past Tuesday and after that meeting feel even stronger that we need to ensure that all Legislators are included in the sharing of information and the decision-making process. We all represent approximately the same number of constituents, but the power base in the past has been inordinately fixed in the hands of only two or three legislators because of this system.

Information is power at any level of government. We need to change this oligarchic form of local government where the County Manager in conjunction with three or four legislators control the information flow and the agenda for the County Legislature. The County Manager needs to be able to communicate at the same level with all nine legislators at all times.

Thus, the Steering Committee needs to go.

#2 - I would ask my fellow legislators to reconsider the make-up of the standing committees of the Legislature and having two Executive Committee meetings a month.

Right now, a chair of a committee holds more power in that area than the other eight members.  In the past, some legislators have used their position as Chair of these committees to unfairly control and drive their own personal agendas to serve special interests instead of the taxpayers.

The Committee structure can also be used to keep legislation from seeing the light of day.  If a Legislator wants to introduce a piece of legislation that falls under the purview of a certain committee, they need the Committee Chairman's permission to get the resolution on the agenda.  If the Chairman of the Committee refuses, the only option is to file a Legislator-sponsored resolution by noon on Monday with a request to have it placed on the Full Board agenda.  The latter approach is ineffective and unnecessary if we work together to provide an environment that encourages open discussion of issues.  We need to consider other options.

I am recommending that we regularly schedule two (2) Executive Committee meetings each month where all nine members are involved and can vote right way on issues of concern for these areas-it would be fairer and more efficient.  I would also welcome a quarterly round table discussion of the Legislature where broader policy discussions could take place with input invited from the public.

Resolutions affecting major policy decisions, appointments to subcommittees and boards should all go through the Executive Committee.  All legislators would have a say in creating policy, overseeing the operation of various county departments, and having equal access to department heads and the county manager.

Thus, let’s hold an additional Executive Committee meeting and reconsider the make-up of standing committees.

#3 -Two out of three days a month that the county legislature comes together for committee meetings, these meetings are held in a side room adjacent to the County Legislative chambers.

The first sentence of its legislative declaration, of Open Meetings Law §100, states that:

"It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that the public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listing to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy."

I believe that all meetings should be held out in the Legislative Chambers where there is room to accommodate our constituents.  The Legislative Meeting room is too small to accommodate the public.  Too often interested parties find themselves standing outside the room trying to observe the legislative deliberations taking place.  This is unfair.  We should do our best to provide a seat for everyone and we can do this simply by moving all Committee Meetings to the Legislative Chambers.

Thus, the move all Committee Meetings to the Legislative Chambers.

These are just a few of many ideas that I believe will help meet the demands of our county residents, who voted last November for true change, responsibility, and new creativity in the County Government Center.

Please send me feedback alansorensen@legislatorsorensen.com about what you think of these ideas!

Look for more proposals for good government in Sullivan County from me in the coming days and months-Alan.