St. Lawrence County Finance Committee

St. Lawrence County Finance Committee

Board of Legislators Monday, September 24, 2012

Board Room 5:30 P.M.

Members Attending: Mr. Morrill, Mr. Acres, Mr. Akins, Mr. Arquiett, Ms. Brothers,

Mr. Bunstone, Mr. Burns, Mr. Lightfoot, Mr. MacKinnon arrived at 5:51 p.m., Mr. Paquin, Mr. Parker, Mr. Peck, Mr. Putman, Mr. Putney, Mr. Sutherland

Others Attending: Ruth Doyle, Kelly Pearson, Laurie Demers, Kevin Felt, Mike Crowe, Keith Zimmerman, Darren Colton, Kevin Wells, Angela Doe, Sue Hathaway, Deb Bridges, Chris Rediehs, Jeannie Bacon, Nicole Maxner, Dawn Howard, Deb Christy, and Martha Ellen – Watertown Daily Times

1. CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA – Chair Morrill called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. The agenda was amended by adding Resolution 8B “Removing a Parcel from Public Health Action, Sale of Tax-Acquired Property to the Village of Norwood” and removing Resolution 8A “Authorizing the Chair to Sign an Agreement between the Wladis Law Firm, P.C., and St. Lawrence County to which Wladis Law Firm will Represent the Interest of St. Lawrence County in furthering its Relationship in New York State”. Mr. Arquiett moved to approve the amended agenda, seconded by Mr. Paquin, and carried.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Ms. Brothers moved to approve the May 21 minutes, seconded by Mr. Parker and Mr. Peck, and carried.

3. UPDATE FROM ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY TRAIL COORDINATOR – DEB CHRISTY – Ms. Christie gave a work report on the St. Lawrence County multi-use trails.

Mr. Burns asked if the trail pass that Lewis County sells is beneficial to them. Ms. Christy said they are in their third year of it. They do think that the trail pass will completely pay for anything in the future.

Mr. Arquiett thanked Ms. Christie for the professional report, and thanked the Trails Committee for their efforts. He said this is the most real revenue generating opportunity we have had before us.

4. LEGISLATOR FRED MORRILL

A. Commemorating the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Ranger School in Wanakena on the Occasion of its Centennial Anniversary (Res) – Mr. Peck moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Parker and Mr. Burns. Ms. Howard said the Forestry Ranger School is one of five colleges in the County. The land was donated with the notion it would be a working, teaching forest. The classes are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week. Students work nights and weekends and put in a minimum of 70 hours a week. Students earn a two year Associates Degree. They have three (3) degree specialties: forestry, surveying and natural resources. Even though it is an old school, they keep up on technology. The most important thing they teach is a good work ethic. She invites everyone to the forest festival on Saturday to celebrate their first 100 years.

Mr. MacKinnon arrived at 5:51 p.m.

Motion carried.

B. In Support of the Fishcap and St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Effort to Bring an Elite Series Bassmaster Tournament to Waddington (Res) – Mr. Lightfoot moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Parker and Mr. Putney. Mr. Morrill said the fishermen will come a few weeks ahead of time.

Mr. Lightfoot said at the last Chamber of Commerce meeting it was discussed that there will be hundreds of fishermen coming here for the tournament. They will be here for weeks ahead of time which will be a big economic boom for the Town of Waddington and the surrounding areas.

Mr. Putney said he agrees this is going to be great for the North Country, and especially for the Town of Waddington.

Mr. Morrill said ESPN covers these events, and other people will come afterwards to fish in the St. Lawrence River. Motion carried.

5. REAL PROPERTY – DARREN COLTON

A. Authorizing Collection of Omitted Taxes (Res) – Ms. Brothers moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Paquin. Mr. Colton said this is a yearly resolution. Motion carried.

B. Adoption of the Equalization Rates for 2013 County Taxes (Res) (Info) – Mr. Peck moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers and Mr. Lightfoot. Mr. Colton said these are the final equalization rates for 2013 County taxes. Motion carried.

C. Town/Village/School Omitted Taxes per Real Property Tax Law, August 2012 (Info) – Mr. Colton said these are the monthly corrections submitted by the towns.

D. Town Corrections/Refunds Under $2500 per Annum Recommended to the SLC Treasurer’s Office, August 2012 (Info)

E. School/Village Corrections/Refunds Recommended to School/Village Boards, August 2012 (Info)

Mr. Burns said at one time we had informally discussed the issue of county-wide assessors. He asked if this was something we should go to in the future. Mr. Colton said in 2008 there was a study done, and this Board and the bulk of the towns did not want county-wide assessors. Mr.

Burns asked for a copy of that study. Mr. Colton said he has copies of it, and he would send the Legislators copies.

Mr. MacKinnon said he participated in that survey and the only thing worse than the sales tax would be this, as far as the towns are concerned. He thinks New York State is the only state in the Country that has local assessors. If you look at the fairness issues, and the fact that they are professional assessors it would go a long way. When we talked about it the Towns unanimously did not want to give that up.

6. HIGHWAY – TOBY BOGART

A. Authorizing Chair to Sign Agreements for Winter Maintenance on the County Road System for One Season of 2012-2013 (Res) – Mr. Peck moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Ms. Brothers. Mr. Peck said at the last Highway Committee meeting Mr. Bogart said the towns were calling and wanted to know what was happening.

Mr. Bogart said he provided everyone with a handout. He called the twenty eight (28) towns and twenty two (22) of the towns said they would not plow at a reduced rate. He broke it down to give an idea of what it would cost the County to plow all routes. It would require more employees, and eighteen (18) trucks would have to be purchased to cover these routes. Also new outposts would need to be created, and the existing outposts would need to be updated. Nineteen (19) additional employees would be needed to cover all beats and shop work. The upfront cost would be $3.7 million for first year, and the County cost per mile to plow would be $245,000 per year.

Mr. Burns asked if the towns submit cost records to him on how much it costs them to do the plowing. Mr. Bogart said no. Mr. Burns said so we do not know if we are overpaying the towns. Mr. Bogart said on a five (5) year average, it would probably be an even break. Mr. Burns said some people say certain towns are deplorable. Mr. Bogart said Highway Supervisors check all roads and call them out if needed.

Ms. Brothers said when we attended the Supervisors’ meeting it was clear that the Towns were not going to take the reduction.

Mr. MacKinnon said some towns would take a loss, and it would have a negative impact on the towns. He said he cannot support doing something like this at this time. Most towns do a reasonable job.

Mr. Peck said the Town of Gouverneur keeps a list of every time they go out, and fuel usage. They lost $8,000 to $9,000 plowing County roads this year.

Mr. Akins said if any town lost money last year plowing roads, they are in the wrong business. He said every time we say this is not the year to do cuts; at some point we are going to have to tackle these issues.

Mr. Morrill said this resolution needs a correction as the Town of Fine is included in the towns that are excluded in the last whereas. Mr. Bogart said he would double check that to see if a correction needs to be made.

Mr. Acres said to spring this on the towns without negotiations is not a good way to do this. He believes the cost does average out over five year.

Mr. Peck said he thought the same, but he has the breakdown of the Town of Gouverneur and it was not a money maker. Motion carried.

Mr. Paquin asked if the purpose of county roads is to connect roads from one town to another. Mr. Bogart said it is to connect State route to State route or County route to County route. Mr. Paquin asked Mr. Crowe to send him information on how to give County roads back to the towns and how to identify the roads.

Mr. Burns said when he took a Highway Tour of the roads, there were a few roads that were on the designated county roads list, and they turn into town roads. We should look at turning those roads back into town roads. Mr. Bogart said there are several roads that start at a State road and turns into a town road.

7. COMMUNITY SERVICES – ANGELA DOE

A. Authorization to Fill a Vacancy in the Community Services Department (Res) (Info) – Ms. Brothers moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Akins. Ms. Doe said the position is a Physician’s Assistant, and it will be vacated due to retirement. This is a revenue generating position for our department. The position will be hired at a lower rate thus saving the County money, and the position is needed to remain certified.

Ms. Brothers asked what percentage is paid by the State. Ms. Doe said all of it. Mr. Morrill asked if it came from insurance. Mr. Burns asked if the revenue we receive pays salary, benefits and retirement. Ms. Doe said yes, it is the only one position in our department that actually pays for itself. Motion carried.

8. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT – KAREN ST. HILAIRE

A. Authorizing the Chair to Sign an Agreement between the Wladis Law Firm, P.C., and St. Lawrence County to which Wladis Law Firm will Represent the Interest of St. Lawrence County in Furthering its Relationship in New York State (Res) – this resolution was withdrawn.

B. Removing a Parcel from Public Health Action, Sale of Tax-Acquired Property to the Village

of Norwood (Res) – Ms. Brothers moved to forward this resolution to full Board, seconded by Mr. Burns. Ms. Brothers said this is a non conforming lot on the main street in Norwood. A house burned there a number of years ago and it was an eyesore and danger. The Village had it torn down and cleaned up the lot and it got levied onto the taxes. The people who owned the property may be in dispute over it. The Town of Norwood would like to buy the property and sell it to a local person interested in the property. They offered $3000, but since there was a large amount of money owed on the property, and if the Village of Norwood were to negotiate more money the County should be made whole on our tax bill.

Mr. Sutherland asked what the size of the lot was. Mr. Felt said 51 x 165 x 66 x 66 x 9 x 99; it is an odd size. Ms. Brothers said you cannot build on it according to Norwood Village regulations.

Mr. Parker said what the drawback of letting it go to auction is. Ms. Brothers said the Village of Norwood’s concern is they want to be able to control the property because it is on Main Street. Mr. Felt said the other risk is we have an offer of $3,000 and it may not go for that at auction. He said this is another good example of not being able to have a policy on these properties.

Mr. Burns asked what the yearly taxes are. Mr. Felt said approximately $300 dollar per year.

Mr. Parker asked if the Village is willing to pay $3,000, and also make the County whole on the back taxes. Mr. Felt said yes. Mr. Parker asked if the property went to auction, would the buyer pay the back taxes. Mr. Felt said no.

Mr. Morrill made a friendly amendment to this resolution. Mr. Crowe said in the resolution it needs to state the cost of cleanup and payment of back taxes.

Mr. Acres said we cannot have a policy, but every time one of these comes up there is always concern it may be purchased by someone out of the County. In his mind the airport property was sold for less than market value. He said he was approached by someone regarding a parcel in Rensselaer Falls in which the Town wants to make a playground there. We are taking properties off the tax roll. Motion carried.

COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

Ms. Doyle said the CHHA weekly report was put in each Legislator’s mailbox.

The Sheriffs Benevolent Association and CSEA contracts have been passed by the units. There will be resolutions to be considered at the next Board.

The draft budget will be handed out, and there will be a budget presentation by Ms. St. Hilaire next week. Mr. Burns asked should the refer questions to the County Administrator or Department Heads. Ms. Doyle said to send questions to Ms. St. Hilaire.

Ms. Doyle said there is no budget meeting tomorrow.

Mr. Parker recognized Dr. Hathaway. Ms. Hathaway said she spoke with Becky Gray to get some questions answer regarding Northern Lights, and how soon it would be before they are in operation. It will be at least seven to nine months and possibly up to a year before they are in operation. They have to develop policies and procedures, and submit their paperwork. They may be able to see patients by the summer of 2013. Once Northern Lights is up and running, we could transition our patients to Health Services or Northern Lights if the CHHA closes. There could be other CHHAs opening up also. We are the only provider of Long Term Home Health Program in the County. We have to continue to provide this if the other agencies do not provide this service. There are quite a few issues as to how we would handle the change. If we were to lose staff, we would have to ask the neighboring county CHHAs to take care of our patients. If patients were not taken care of the State would come in immediately and we could be fined.