The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc at all levels of government, producing a degree of uncertainty that has municipal leaders frozen in their tracks.
If that’s not enough, tack on a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to shift funding of hospitals and nursing homes to the counties – a potential move that, according to Genesee County Manager Jay Gsell, would devastate the county budget.
“If the state gets to go down this road, we could be in a world of hurt that we haven’t seen from the days when we owned the (Genesee County) nursing home and were financing deficits,” Gsell said during this afternoon’s County Legislature Ways & Means Committee meeting, which was live-streamed by Zoom on YouTube.
Calling it a “switcheroo that the governor has pulled,” Gsell reported to the committee that mandating county funding of “distressed hospitals and nursing homes” could be a way New York State generates more revenue – by taking more of counties’ sales tax – without having to increase the burden on counties already obligated to fund Medicaid.
“I’m not really sure where this came from,” said Gsell, adding that Genesee County is on board with the New York State Association of Counties’ plea to state lawmakers to reject proposals that would undo local Medicaid caps and result in higher property taxes for struggling homeowners or cuts to vital local services.
Gsell said it is essential that state legislators accept the $6.7 billion in new federal healthcare funding included in the first stimulus package – action intended to help states and local governments through this public health crisis.
He said the governor's proposal is a “backdoor way” of putting New York counties in a $250 million hole while attempting to plug a state budget gap that could reach $15 billion due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“To involve us in two fiscal entities and, obviously, vital services that we have no control over, no veto or anything else – and we haven’t seen any of the details – is both scary as well as quite off the beaten path,” Gsell said.
The county manager acknowledged that things will be much clearer after the 2020-21 state budget is passed (it could happen at midnight tonight), but he and the county legislature still are taking an ultra-conservative approach when it comes to spending.
He said the county’s current budget calls for approximately $864,000 in outside agency funding, (not including Genesee Community College) for tourism promotion, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Genesee County Economic Development Center, public libraries, Holland Land Office Museum, GO ART! and Finger Lakes Regional Planning.
County Treasurer Scott German reported that the sales tax reserve stands at $1.1 million, and that money from the infrastructure reserve that was earmarked for the new county jail now has been put on hold.
Gsell confirmed that the county will revisit the jail project in the spring of 2021, noting that – due to the effect that the state’s bail reform law has had on jail population -- the plan to build a four-pod jail could be reduced to three pods. He also said they will be looking at the possibility of a shared-services arrangement with Orleans County.
The Ways & Means Committee also put the brakes on, at least temporarily, a $125,000 project to construct a building to house fuel trucks, mowing and facilities equipment and a grader at the Genesee County Airport.
Highway Superintendent Tim Hens said that the new building – which would replace a 70-year-old pole barn that is in “rough shape” – is necessary because wind and cold weather were causing the trucks’ fuel lines to freeze.
The project had been previously approved by the Public Service Committee and went out to bid, Hens said, adding that Thompson Builds came in as the low bidder at $109,000. That price was to build the frame and shell; county employees will be used to put down the concrete floor and do the electrical work.
Hens said he hoped the project would continue, but in light of the county’s fiscal situation, offered a second option: storing the fuel vehicles in a bay or two of new hangars that are set to be built this summer with money from a state grant.
In an effort to rein in expenses, Hens said he already has cut $600,000 from the 2020 budget by pulling back on capital projects and has deferred another $800,000 in projects scheduled for 2021.
Legislator Gary Maha said he thinks the building is needed, “but I don’t think it’s the right time to spend that kind of money.”
“We don’t know where we’re going to be when this whole thing is said and done,” he said. “We put a stop on the jail. The jail is needed, but we put a stop on that. And I think we need to put a stop on all capital projects until we know where we are budget-wise.”
Legislators Andrew Young and Rochelle Stein agreed, prompting Ways & Means Chair Marianne Clattenburg to request more information about construction costs and referring the project back to the Public Service Committee.
