budget

The future of Genesee Justice wasn't the only matter discussed at the county budget hearing a week ago. County Manager Jay Gsell made a presentation about the county's entire budget picture.

Among the most interesting slides were those dealing with Medicaid. As the pie chart above shows, Medicaid accounts for 41 percent of the county's property tax levy, even though only 10 percent of the county's residents are eligible for benefits.

Federally mandated medicaid services:

• Inpatient Hospital Services
• Outpatient Hospital Services
• Physician Services
• Medical and Surgical Dental Services
• Nursing facility services for individuals aged 21 or older
• Home Health Care (Nursing, Home Health Aide, Medical Supplies and Equipment)
• Family Planning Services and Supplies
• Rural Health Clinic Services
• Laboratory and X-Ray Services
• Nurse Practitioner Services
• Federally Qualified Health Center Services
• Midwife Services
• Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Services for individuals under 21 (Child/Teen Health Plan in NYS)
• Medicare Coinsurance and Deductibles for qualified Medicare beneficiaries for Chiropractors, Podiatrists, Portable X-Ray and Clinical Social Work Services

Additional mandated services covered by NYS Medicaid:

• Free-standing Clinic Services
• Nursing Facility Services for under age 21
• Intermediate Care Facility Services for the Developmentally Disabled 
• Optometrist Services and Eyeglasses
• Physical, Speech and Occupational Therapy
• Prosthetic Devices and Orthotic Appliances
• Dental Services, Audiology and Hearing Aids
• Clinical Psychologist Services
• Private Duty Nursing
• Diagnosis, Screening, Preventive and Rehabilitative Services
• Personal Care Services
• Transportation to Covered Services
• Hospice
• Case Management
• Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Services for Individuals under age 21 and over 65

In a long conversation today about the need for the Soil and Water Conservation District in Genesee County, Le Roy dairy farmer Dale Stein didn't once complain about an increasingly demanding Environmental Protection Agency.

He just said "Farmers need help."

That help has come for years from the Soil and Water District. Staff members have the expertise to help farmers comply with regulations that protect the land, air and water.

"All of us want to live in a good environment," Stein said. "But we can't do it on our own."

After our talk, Stein walked me across the street, through the mud and over a plank bridge that spans a cement trough, a little creek if you will, of liquid manure.

The manure is fed into a new $170,000 machine that pulls out the solids, drys it, mashes it up and sends it out a conveyor belt into a big pile in a new storage building.

Sawdust, which has served as bedding for cows for decades or longer, is getting expensive, Stein said. Increasingly, it's used in recycled products, which drives the cost up for farmers.

Now, Stein's cows sleep on their own processed manure.

"The cows love it," Stein said. "It's soft and fluffy."

Surprisingly, it has no discernible odor.

The environmentally friendly process was driven as much by federal guidelines to reduce his manure waste as it was by economics.

After a 30-percent federal grant to help pay for the project, Stein said the savings on sawdust purchasing will pay for the operation inside of two years.

Without the help of Soil and Water technicians, Stein said, the project would been a lot harder to pull off. They help identify issues on his farm that might run afoul of regulations, find the right solutions, help secure grants to pay for the projects and then ensure the project is completed within federal or state guidelines.

No farmer, Stein said, has that kind of expertise.

These are tough times, though, and the Genesee County Legislature wants to balance the county's $140.5 million budget without raising property taxes. At the same time, more than 80 percent of the county's revenue is tied up in covering the expense of unfunded mandates.

So, where the county can cut, officials are looking at deep cuts.

For the Soil and Water District, that means a 15-percent reduction -- $26,000 -- in the county's $170,000 allocation.

With the budget cut, there will be at least one less staff member in the district, according to Brad Rodgers, chairman of the Soil and Water board of directors.

"(The cut) would be a real detriment to the agriculture industry in Genesee County," said Rogers. "Even level funding would hurt us."

Scott Page, president of the Genesee County Farm Bureau, believes keeping Soil and Water is critical to protecting Genesee County's economic base.

"If we hurt ag, we miss an opportunity to move forward," said Page. "The more we build off our agricultural base, the better the local economy will do."

Page said his family has been dairy farmers in Le Roy for 50 years, and he's seen the regulations get tighter and more technical. While he doesn't think they are entirely necessary ("What farmer doesn't want to care for his animals?" he says), there is just no way the typical Genesee County farmer can keep abreast of all the regulations without experts to lead the way, he said.

Although Stein's manure recycling project has a direct economic benefit to his business, complying with many of the state and federal regulations adds nothing to the bottom line.

"It's tough for a farmer to lay aside that kind of money for something that is not going to generate profit," Page said.

Banks don't want to loan farmers money to undertake projects that often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Banks are only willing to help, Stein said, because there are federal grants available to pay from 30 to 70 percent of a project's cost.

And it takes Soil and Water experts to help a farmer through the application process.

"We have a good Soil and Water program," Stein said. "But we will start losing farms in this county pretty quickly due to these regulations without help."

Photos: Top, Dale Stein in front of a pile of manure dust; inset, Stein holding a handful of processed manure; bottom inset, Scott Page.

It was a historic moment, Public Defender Gary Horton said.

"This may be the first time you have Judge (Robert) Noonan, (District Attorney Lawrence) Friedman and I all agree on something."

There was nothing but agreement from the two dozen or so speakers who took up the cause of Genesee Justice at the County Legislature's budget hearing Wednesday evening.

The budget proposal calls for the elimination of Genesee Justice as a department and moving most of its current functions into the probation department.

The change could save the county $237,000, but several speakers said that Genesee Justice saves the county maybe as much as $1 million a year by helping to keep people out of jail.

Nothing against the Probation Department, many speakers said, but probation officers won't take the same approach in dealing with offenders and victims which Genesee Justice has done successfully for 30 years.

Speakers praised Genesee Justice as a pioneering "restorative justice" program. They characterized probation as a law enforcement agency -- one that takes more of a punitive approach in dealing with offenders.

"Probation officers carry weapons, they make arrests," said Oakfield Justice Thomas Graham. "Genesee Justice is more of a social agency, they handle casework, and they work very hard to help people make it through without sending them back to jail."

After the meeting, Julie Smith, director of probation, said she disagrees with that characterization of her department.

"Probation is (also) an alternative to incarceration," Smith said. "There are about 700 offenders on our case load and if it wasn’t for us, they would be in jail.

"We are following offenders," Smith added. "We are checking up on them. We are in their lives."

According to County Manager Jay Gsell, the county budget picture is so dire -- more than 80 percent of the budget is state-mandated expenses -- that drastic measures are needed. The budget contains little that is discretionary and the direction of the legislature was to balance the budget without increasing the tax levy.

"If we were masters of our own fate, that would be a lot easier to do, but we’re not," Gsell said. "We are creatures of state government."

Genesee Justice is a pioneering agency in what is known as "restorative justice." It focuses on the needs of victims and offenders to help bring about some level of reconciliation, and to help offenders re-enter society as productive citizens rather treat offenders in a traditional law-and-order manner.

The local program was started with grants 30 years ago at a time when the concepts of restorative justice were rarely considered by judges or prosecutors. 

As one speaker noted, Genesee Justice has been cited in scholarly articles on restorative justice from around the world.

Among the functions handled by Genesee Justice are: supervising first-time DWI offenders who have been granted a conditional discharge; overseeing work-release programs and community service; helping victims of crime with getting through the judicial process; and receiving restitution payments and completing paperwork, as well as managing the "release-under-supervision" (RUS) program.

Genesee Justice took over RUS from probation 2002. RUS allows courts to release alleged offenders prior to trial who don't qualify for release under their own recognizance but do not necessarily need to be held on bail.

Judges Robert Noonan, Robert Balbick, Thomas Graham, Michael Delplato, as well as Sheriff Gary Maha and District Attorney Lawrence Friedman all expressed concern that switching RUS back to probation would mean fewer alleged offenders would receive RUS status.

"The Genesee Justice program as it has developed is amazing in terms of keeping the jail population down," said Noonan. "I know probation says they can do it and I know they honestly believe they can do it.

"But I believe what you are going to see is a spike in the population at the jail and you are going to wind up paying dollars at the far end after eliminating a very, very important program."

Balbick said he just doesn't know what will happen if RUS is moved back to probation, and that worries him.

"The RUS program runs well because we have a department that runs it well," Balbick said. "I don’t know what it will be if probation runs it. Maybe they will run it well, but I don’t know. I do know that Genesee Justice runs it well."

One speaker suggested it would take $30 million to build a new jail, if needed. Sheriff Maha noted that the current jail was constructed at its present capacity because there was a Genesee Justice program to help keep offenders out of jail.

"If the jail population increases, the State Commission of Correction will come down and tell us to do something about our increased population -- like build a new jail or put on an addition," Maha said. "We'll be like our neighbors to our south who had to build a jail addition to address their jail population."

Smith said that probation handled RUS for 26 years and they can easily take over the program again.

Several speakers said they believe the elimination of Genesee Justice is "a done deal," and that the local justice system community was not consulted first.

The repeated complaint was that only two people -- Gsell and Smith -- supported the plan and were pushing it through without a lot of outside input.

"It appears to me that the only people who are speaking out in favor of this proposal are the ones making the proposal," Friedman said. "They’re the only ones who appear to believe that it’s a good idea. Otherwise, from what I’m hearing, everyone involved in the criminal justice systems, thinks this is a bad idea."

Smith was quick to point out after the meeting that she's not the one who made the proposal.

“This is at the direction of the legislature," Smith said. "The legislature asked me to look at. It’s nothing that I sought out. There’s a lot of misinformation out there (saying) that I sought to do this, but the legislature asked us to do this and we’ll do our best to step up to the plate."

Gsell said it certainly isn't a done deal.

"How can it be? The legislature hasn’t even voted," Gsell said. "This is what we go through every year when we make proposals on the budget. I make a proposal and that becomes what the legislators deal with. That’s where we’re at right now."

The legislators we spoke with after the meeting said they certainly haven't made up their minds and they want to discuss it further with other members of the legislature before making a decision.

Mary Pat Hancock, chairwoman of the legislature, said "we're hearing the concerns and considerations of the people, and we're certainly listening."

"We will consider it carefully," Hancock said. "This is presented as a tentative budget and we don’t pass a budget for another three weeks."

Legislator Jay Grasso noted that he took copious notes during the meeting and he looks forward to sitting down with his fellow legislators to hear what they think.

Most of all, he said, it was a big change from previous public hearings where few people show up and even fewer have anything to say.

"It’s democracy in action," Grasso said. "You should have people here. You should have people questioning what we do. You should have people saying, ‘well, why are you doing this?’ I found it unique and refreshing."

Photos: Top, Gary Horton holding up a button in support of Genesee Justice; County Judge Robert Noonan; Legislature Chairwoman Mary Pat Hancock; City Court Judge Robert Balbick; County Manager Jay Gsell; Sheriff Gary Maha.

In an effort to close a significant budget gap, the Genesee County Legislature will be asked to look at eliminating Genesee Justice and moving its services to the County Probation Department.

Genesee Justice provides a variety of services, including supervising accused criminals released from jail, as well as some convicted drunken drivers, and assisting victims of crime.

County Manager Jay Gsell said in the 17 years he's been with the county, Genesee Justice has gone from a program funded entirely by state grants to one that now has $237,000 in unfunded expenses.

The county is a looking for a way to cut that expense in an effort to trim $7.5 million from the proposed 2011 budget.

"We know what services Genesee Justice delivers and we know how it is delivered," Gsell said. "What we're looking at is how can we deliver that same level of service to the community through the probation department."

Ed Minardo, director of Genesee Justice has some concerns about whether the same level of services can be maintained.

He said he's working on an information campaign to help decision-makers understand all that Genesee Justice does and exactly what's involved in delivering the current level of services.

"I'm concerned," Minardo said. "We've been here 30 years. I want to ensure that this is a carefully deliberated decision."

Under the proposal -- which Gsell says is very preliminary -- about seven-and-half positions in Genesee Justice would be eliminated and three positions created in probation.

The Children's Advocacy Center, which employs two people, would remain under the supervision of the Sheriff's Office, which currently oversees Genesee Justice.

Gsell said the change could eliminate administration and overhead costs, but it still needs further study.

Minardo said that in 2009, Genesee Justice supervised 419 people assigned to community service; and 518 people in Genesee Jail were screened for possible release under supervision; and 245 accused criminals were released and supervised by Genesee Justice. 

The number of victims helped by Genesee Justice is not immediately available.

The county budget hearing is at 6 p.m., Nov. 17 in the county courts facility.

Parents, do your back-to-school shopping now.

Starting in October, under the 123-day-late budget passed by the Senate last night, clothing priced at under $110 will once again be assessed a 4-percent sales tax.

That's one of the provisions to increase revenue.

Even so, Associated Press reports that budget isn't balanced and Republicans complain that it both raises taxes and increases spending (Gothamist).

The revenue package is expected to generate $1.5 billion dollars and was approved by the Senate on a 32-28 vote.

A soda tax was not included in the bill.

The total budget: $136 billion.

Buffalo News: New financing provision for UB not included in budget.

New York Times: With Connecticut trying to woo hedge funds, the budget doesn't include a change in state law that would have taxed bonuses as ordinary income.

Albany Times-Union: Statement from Gov. Paterson's office.

LoHud.com: Senate is planning property tax cap.

With a state budget five weeks late and a $9.5 billion budget gap, Assemblyman Steve Hawley found a debate on seahorse protection legislation just a bit ridiculous.

Hawley voted no on the bill just as a matter of protest.

“The dysfunction in Albany has reached a breaking point, and today’s debate on seahorse legislation is a prime example of that," Hawley said in a news release. "Despite the fact I want to save my seahorse friends, I voted no on this bill in protest because of the sheer lunacy of its timing during this fiscal crisis. Over the last four weeks, the Assembly Majority has introduced trivial legislation, while continuing to send the rank-and-file members home after only a couple days of work.”

WGRB out of Albany spoke to the bill's sponsor:

The sponsor of the seahorse bill, Steve Englebright of Long Island, says this is important legislation to protect seahorses off Long Island that are collected for the aquarium industry, and that it would be malpractice for the Assembly not to work on other bills while waiting for a budget deal.

Hawley said he's frustrated with the lack of progress on a budget.

"Since April 1, four emergency budget extenders have been put in place, and there are no concrete plans for a budget to be passed anytime soon," Hawley said.

It's called a "sweep." Imagine if all the money for the state's various special funds were on a big table, and Gov. David Paterson reached out his arm and dragged it across the top of those stack of bills and pushed the greenbacks into a giant gunny sack labeled, "General Fund."

New York has been doing it for years -- taking money earmarked for dozens of special programs, collected from dedicated fees, and using the funds to make up budget imbalances.

"Much of it is money that would be expended but the time has not come up yet for it to be spent," said County Clerk Don Read. "In (sweeping), they tend to make liars out of us who have to collect that money and tell people (what it’s used for)."

Two examples out of the County Clerk's Office: document fees and snowmobile license fees. The state has taken more than $500,000 from that fund over the past three years, Read said.

The first fee is used to fund grants for cities, schools, libraries and other smaller agencies to store, maintain and retain important records, and to modernize old systems.The snowmobile fee -- $90 for a non-snowmobile club member, $45 for members -- is used to maintain trails and facilities for snowmobilers.

Paterson's office is planning a $1 million sweep from the snowmobile fund this year.

"By sweeping out that money, there’s less to distribute to the grants, so a number of grants just don’t get funded," Read said. "Yet, we still have to tell the people that’s what we collect the money for."

The New York Post recently ran a story about Albany sweeping $8.5 million from a fund dedicated to building a veteran's retirement home.

Photo: Don Read from a previous story about license plates.

Gov. David Paterson plans to withhold funding for union raises in his next emergency budget act, which effectively suspends a 4-percent raise for the state's union workers.

The raise was part of a contract negotiated in 2007, but with a $9 billion budget deficit, Paterson says the state can't afford the extra expense.

“I am just shocked and amazed that every time you ask the special interests or the unions for some kind of sacrifice that the answer is either ‘no’ or ‘I’m going to sue you,’” Paterson said Thursday after a private meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. “The state has run out of money twice, for the first time in its history, in the last four months. We’re doing everything to keep the ship afloat. And some people are just very reticent or unable to recognize the gravity of the crisis.”

Meanwhile, Albany has yet to approve a new budget. Assemblyman Steve Hawley issued the following statement on the situation:

After another week of inaction, and seven days past the due date, the 2010-2011 State Budget has not passed. Instead, the Majority continues to meet behind closed doors, which will likely lead to new taxes, increased government spending, and worst of all, more state borrowing, while sending the rank-and-file members of the Assembly trivial legislation to vote on. With New York State nearly bankrupt, this kind of inaction is unacceptable. We should have been in session last week, and not passing the budget this week only wasted more taxpayer money at a cost of more than $100,000. I am willing to stay in Albany until the budget crisis is solved. Unfortunately, it appears that my colleagues in the Majority are not, and despite the ensuing fiscal crisis, would rather put the budget off until next week, if not next month. Clearly, this year’s budget process shows how broken New York state government really is.

Some members of public employees unions in New York are bucking their union bosses and saying they should give back their 4-percent raises, according to Associated Press.

"I talked to my friends and neighbors who are losing their jobs and taking pay cuts and for me to get a raise, I functionally have to ask them to pay for it," Regan said in an interview with The Associated Press. He said he hasn't heard from anyone who opposes his view.

In other budget news, a group calling itself Better Choice for Budgeting Campaign, is calling on higher taxes and closing tax loopholes for Wall Street financiers and hedge fund managers.

“When you look at hedge fund managers making millions and millions of dollars and Wall Street having caused a great deal of the economic turmoil we find ourselves in, they should really help pay for it,” said Sen. Neil Breslin.

And while New York's budget is a week late today, Albany's Democrats and Republics are squabbling over procedure, according to the Times-Union.

Senate Democrats gathered on Wednesday to roll out an ambitious set of reforms to New York's budget process. Republicans shot back that the majority would do better to devote their time to the work at hand, and lambasted Democrats for failing to follow budget reforms that are already on the books.

The official deficit number is $9 billion, but years of accounting tricks aimed at hiding deficit spending masks New York's true fiscal picture, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

For years, governors and legislators used a grab bag of fiscal gimmicks to cover up the growing gaps between revenue and expenditures. Those gimmicks are now so widespread and so embedded in Albany budgeting, DiNapoli said, that they have essentially rendered the state’s balance sheet immaterial.

One common device is the “sweep,” where the state grabs a surplus from an another entity — say, the Battery Park City Authority — to cover recurring expenses in the general fund, the state’s main bank account and the one that is required to be kept in balance.

Officials have also moved many day-to-day operating expenses out of the general fund and into other funds, hiding spending growth and hiding the true cost of running the government. For example, Governor Paterson’s proposed budget uses $40 million from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, which is supposed to pay for parkland acquisitions, to pay salaries and other expenses of the state’s environmental and parks agencies.

Read the whole story.

At a time when New York is struggling to close a $9.2 billion budget deficit, the state's workers represented by labor unions received a 4-percent pay increase April 1.

The wage hike will saddle taxpayers with another $400 million in annual expenses to cover.

The contracts with the Civil Service Employees Association and the Public Employee Federation were negotiated by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007.

Gov. David Paterson thinks the unions should turn down the raises, according to Business First.

"All public employees are a critical part of our state government. They deliver essential public services and, for that, they deserve our respect," he said Thursday. "But New York remains mired in a fiscal crisis of nearly unprecedented magnitude that will require real sacrifices. In agreeing to forego these scheduled 4-percent salary increases, the leaders of New York’s public employee unions have a real and concrete opportunity to demonstrate they understand the dire nature of this fiscal and economic crisis, and that they are willing to become a serious partner in addressing it.”

Unions flatly stated they will not budge. They say their contracts were fairly negotiated and must be honored.

“PEF will not reopen its contract with the state of New York,” said Kenneth Brynien, president of the Latham-based union that represents 58,000 white-collar state workers.

“What people don’t seem to grasp is, if you break a contract, you’re setting a terrible precedent. It ignores that you have legally binding documents,” said Stephen Madarasz, spokesman for CSEA.

There are 196,375 workers on the state payroll, and 94 percent of them are represented by a union.

Assembly Democrats want to cut state aid to schools by only $800 million, not the $1.4 billion proposed by Senate Democrats and Gov. David Paterson.

The Assembly proposal also includes $2 billion in borrowing.

According to the New York Times, Assembly leader Sheldon Silver says,

“With this plan,” Mr. Silver said, “we close the deficit, we make responsible cuts, we hold the line on spending, we preserve vital programs and services, we reject a number of taxes and fees, and dramatically reform the budget process.”

The Assembly budget does not include Paterson's tax on soda, nor does it propose closing all 81 state parks, which Paterson asked for.

The Assembly budget cuts $4.3 billion in spending. Paterson's proposal cut $4.9 billion, but without borrowing.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley's office released this statement about the budget:

Earlier tonight, the Assembly Majority introduced, and passed, their 2010-2011 State Budget resolution. While it did eliminate the proposed tax on sugared beverages and the closure of state parks throughout the state, it still looks to solve the projected budget shortfalls by increasing state borrowing by $2 billion. With the state already on the brink of insolvency, we cannot afford anymore debt or borrowing. I voted against this resolution and hope that as the budget deadline approaches my colleagues in the Majority will not plan on voting for this in the final budget.

For more on the Assembly budget, here's the Albany Times-Union story.

Senate Democrats have approved a budget proposal that increases state spending by $1 billion, even as it cuts $1.4 billion in school spending, according to the Albany Business Journal.

The Senate budget -- which Republicans say they did not get time to review thoroughly, therefore voted against -- does not include a tax on soft drinks proposed by Gov. David Paterson, nor authorization for grocery stores to sell wine.

The proposed budget, which will need to be reconciled with an as-yet-unannounced Assembly budget, passed the Senate 32-29.

The two houses have until April 1 to agree on a budget.

Democrats say the increase in spending is still below the rate of inflation.

Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer released the following statement:

The Senate Democrats drafted their final budget resolution in secret, without any input from Republicans. They then released the resolution less than an hour before it was voted on. Only a budget resolution crafted in secret would produce such a bad deal for New Yorkers.

The Budget Resolution increases spending by $1.5 billion, expands welfare programs, and fails to restore the STAR rebate check program for all homeowners. Even worse, the resolution does nothing to help create private sector jobs. Instead, it only adds more government jobs by expanding welfare eligibility and increases public assistance payments again this year.

I will only support a budget which does not increase taxes and spending, delivers property tax relief to homeowners and enables the private sector to create jobs. This is the budget the people want. It’s a budget they deserve and the budget we must achieve.

It's now official -- city property owners can expect a 1.5-percent rate increase in property taxes.

On a 7-2 vote last night, the Batavia City Council approved the 2010/11 budget, which comes in at $21.7 million in expenditures.

The no votes came from Councilman Sam Barone and Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian.

"If this budget passes, the only thing we will be doing is squeezing and choking off the middle class," Christian said.

Christian's areas of concern, she said during the meeting, were legal fees, community celebrations, a drop in sales tax last month, the high cost of youth services and she called $527,000 for parks "outrageous." She also objected to the transfer of water funds to the general fund and said the contingency fund is much too low, especially since it's likely that police officers will win an arbitration case granting them retroactive pay raises.

Christian also complained that constituents in the Sixth Ward have reported high reassessments, from $7,000 to $11,000 more, for their homes.

"This is really going to hurt these people," Christian said.

During the public comments section of the meeting, before the budget vote, city resident Daniel Del Plato spoke vehemently against the proposed budget, saying city taxpayers couldn't handle any further tax increases.

"You're trying to get blood from stones," Del Plato said.

She also objected to a pay raise for non-union employees, which did pass in a separate motion on a 5-4 vote. Voting no were Christian, Barone and council members Bill Cox and Bob Bialkowski.

The council also approved plans to raise water rates and seek bonds to fund the start of a five-year or longer process of water infrastructure upgrades. Barone voted no on both resolutions.

The audience was quite small for tonight's public hearings on the proposed 2010/2011 City of Batavia budget and a proposed water rate increase.

Between the two hearings, one person -- John Roach -- made a statement.

City Council President Marianne Clattenburg said she wasn't surprised.

"It (the lack of turnout) tells me that they've probably contacted us personally," Clattenburg said. "They've been following things in the media and understand the position we're in and realize we're trying to work through some difficult times. As always we're open to listening to constituents and if they can't make it to the meeting -- lots of people do get their information from other sources -- and they let us know."

There was no vote taken tonight (that will come at the next council meeting), but this was the chance for the public to weigh in on a proposed 1.5-percent property tax increase and the first in a series of planned, gradual water rate increases aimed at raising money to fix infrastructure.

Clattenburg said the council has gotten ample feedback from members of the public prior to tonight's meeting.

"People have come forward," Clattenburg said. "They realize the reasoning behind the tax increase and what we're trying to do with the infrastructure improvements and I think they just support what we're trying to do."

After State Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer's press conference today on his jobs bill, I spoke with him for a minute about his position on the governor's budget.

My question was, with all of the proposed spending cuts from Gov. David Paterson, why aren't Republicans falling more in line with supporting the governor's proposed budget. Here's what he said:

I certainly support the cuts the governor has talked about and I don't think there's been a lot of push back from Republicans. But what Republicans are concerned about is that...(if) you actually take a look at the budget -- last year it was $131 billion, this year it's $134 billion -- spending goes up this year. Not withstanding all the comments about cuts, cuts, cuts, he's actually spending $3 billion more this year in his proposed budget than what happened last year.

So that's where the criticism is, that you can't say one thing and then introduce a budget that actually increases spending by $3 billion. When you look at the fine print, that's what what it actually does. If there's been any opposition, that's where the opposition has been.

The criticism and the push back is not from the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. When you talk about his low poll numbers, these are the residents our our state who are saying this -- that's their reaction to what he has done because they've seen what he said and compared it to what he did. I mean last year, he introduced a budget that was not that bad to start off, but at the end of the day, the budget he finally adopted was $12 billion in new spending. So people are very leery about what he actually says and what actually gets enacted at the end of the budget session.

The governor is out of line, according to Assemblyman Steve Hawley, in planning to shift $1 million from New York's snowmobile program to the state's general fund.

Hawley today issued a statement asking Gov. David Paterson to strike that provision from his proposed 2010-2011 executive budget.

“This proposal to take $1 million away from the Snowmobile Fund is unacceptable and serves as just another example of the State trying to take every penny it can to cover its own fiscal mismanagement,” said Hawley. “This fund is entirely financed and supported by the fees New Yorkers pay to register their snowmobiles. For this reason, the fund should be used solely to maintain and develop snowmobile trails throughout the state.”

Full press release after the jump:

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R, I, C – Batavia) today called on Governor David Paterson to remove a proposal from his 2010-2011 Executive Budget aimed at removing $1 million from the Snowmobile Trail Development and Maintenance Fund and transferring it into the State’s General Fund.

“This proposal to take $1 million away from the Snowmobile Fund is unacceptable and serves as just another example of the State trying to take every penny it can to cover its own fiscal mismanagement,” said Hawley.“This fund is entirely financed and supported by the fees New Yorkers pay to register their snowmobiles.  For this reason, the fund should be used solely to maintain and develop snowmobile trails throughout the state.”

The 2010-2011 Executive Budget contains a proposal to sweep $1 million from the Snowmobile Trail Development and Maintenance Fund and transfer it into the State’s General Fund. In addition, the proposal would allow the General Fund to have access to 30% of the remaining Snowmobile Fund balance and expand the use of that money to include all recreational activities on State lands. When a similar proposal was raised in 2008, Assemblyman Hawley authored and introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 10732, which would prevent any transfer of funds from accounts that are specifically supported with a dedicated fee, such as the Snowmobile Trail Development and Maintenance Fund. 

According to the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Snowmobile industry contributes more than $875 million to the state economy each year. The removal of $1 million from the snowmobile fund, and the potential access to an additional 30% of that fund, could severely impact the Upstate economy. 

“Many small upstate communities rely heavily on the snowmobiling industry to generate local revenue and would be negatively impacted by this money grab by Albany. If Albany is serious about helping rebuild New York’s ailing economy, then this proposal should be taken out. I will continue to fight against this proposal to seize dedicated funds for some other use just as I did in 2008.”