shelley stein

Sometimes, it’s the unspoken words that take center stage during something like a public budget hearing.

And the silence of no one who signed up to speak after Genesee County Manager Matt Landers presented his proposed nearly $1.9 million budget for 2025 indeed said something to Legislative Chairwoman Shelley Stein.

“The silence is meaningful because, as everyone is aware, all of our local government leadership is aware that sales tax revenue is down, and we aren't going to even make what we have budgeted for this year. And that was the pot of money that we had that was available to share,” Stein said after the hearing Wednesday at the Old County Courthouse. “But something that we do do is we make available to each community the opportunity to have the county pay for and provide a grant writer. So our communities are taking advantage of that, and you will see some of the recent wins that we've had in those communities. So, you know, a little bit of seed money that brings other people's money into the county has greater value than what we could do by giving an extra dollar of revenue distribution.”

In the last couple of years, at least one or two town supervisors have asked if the county could loosen the purse strings and allow more sales tax to be shared amongst the municipalities. During his talk, Landers explained that a lack of sales tax was a major challenge in creating this coming year’s budget.

So, as it stands, the proposed plan is a 3.4% increase, or $6,264,607, from this current year’s adopted budget. Reasons for the increase include a $1.9 million increase in preschool supportive health services program costs, $1.5 million in state retirement system cost increases, $727,000 increase in medical expenses, and $200,000 more in the 730 court-ordered competency evaluation costs, he said. 

“We were able to hold the line for a couple of years, but just the second year in a row where we have sweeping cost increases on the medical side. This chart basically shows you know there's, we believe, no end in sight for mandate relief,” he said. “Over 95% of our property tax money goes directly to New York state-mandated costs. It'll be something that we continue to watch in the future. One of the fears we have is when the New York State Budget starts to go when it starts to become more challenging, and they do show how the reports that we get from NYSAC (New York State Association of Counties) indicate years of pledge deficits. There's always a fear that that just basically ends up resulting in a mandate push down to the counties. So when we're already at over 95% of our tax levy already on mandated services, there isn't much room to grow.”

With a shiny new $70 million county jail, that comes with $3.8 debt service payments in the general fund, plus operational, utility and contracted medical cost increases for the facility, he said.  

“At this point, water expenditures continue to be funded with water revenues. But there is a looming $150 million Phase 3 of the water system that has us turning over every stone to try to minimize future general funding,” he said.

He has recommended using a property tax levy of $33,630,739 toward the budget, an increase of $908,362, or 2.78%, from this year. Due to increased property assessments, he said, the tax rate will decrease by 51 cents per $1,000 assessed value, lowering the current rate of $8.08 to $7.57 per $1,000 assessed value.

If the county Legislature adopts this budget, it would mean an annual bill of $757 for a property assessed at $100,000, versus this year's tab of $808, for a decrease of $51 if a homeowner has not had a property assessment increase.

However, if a home's value went up from $100,000 to $125,000, it would mean that a home that cost $808 yearly would now cost $946.25, for an overall yearly increase of $138.25 due to that increased assessment. 

Landers wants to offset expenses by $2.5 million out of the county’s fund balance and $639,653 out of the Medical Reserve Fund. The budget would include $1 million for infrastructure spending on large span culverts; one full-time public works project manager and a part-time program assistant for the county park; 10 full-time corrections officers for the new county jail; and one each part-time financial clerk typist and discovery clerk for the Sheriff’s Office.

Infrastructure investments also include $4 million in capital projects for airport upgrades, building maintenance, information technology upgrades, Sheriff’s Office equipment upgrades — tasers, body cameras and guns — highway equipment replacement. 

Annual payments of more than $500,000, per previously signed contracts, are also included for Mercy Flight and Le Roy Ambulance to provide dedicated ambulance service to the county, he said. 

Listing three pages of budget challenges, Landers reviewed the rising employee retirement and medical costs, unfunded mandate increases, which include assigned counsel and 730 mental health restorative costs, and reduced sales tax — the first time since 2000 that sales tax revenues have declined year over year and falling under budget for 2024, he said.

The legal system is costing the county quite a chunk of money, to the tune of that extra $200,000 for the 730 mental health court and an additional $123,530 for assigned counsel costs, for a total spending of more than $1.8 million.

What is the 730 mental health court?
When a criminal suspect with mental health issues enters the justice system following an arrest, that defendant has a constitutional right to understand the proceedings, whether the defendant eventually ends up accepting a plea offer or facing trial.

In New York, that right is also protected by statute in Article 730 of the Criminal Procedure Law. The purpose of Article 730 is to ensure that a defendant is able to understand the charges against him or her and participate in his or her own defense.

Officials in Genesee County have wanted to see the law changed because it is outdated and getting increasingly more expensive with less efficiency than more contemporary options for dealing with a defendant's mental health capacity.

What is assigned counsel, and why are costs going up?
Assigned counsel costs "have been increasing drastically," primarily due to the state increasing the pay for assigned counsel attorneys from an hourly rate between $60 and 75 (depending on whether the offense was a misdemeanor or felony) to $158 an hour, more than doubling the cost of representation, Landers said. 

“This is for people that both meet the financial criteria for publicly paid for representation and have a conflict that prevents representation by the Public Defender’s Office,” he said. “In 2022, the county spent $624,336 between Criminal Court and Family Court assigned counsel.  In 2025, that budgeted figure has increased to $1,828,800.”

He thanked staff and department heads for the “team effort” to deliver an on-time budget that falls under the tax cap.

“I’m very happy that the legislature provided clear guidance. I feel like any time that I could reach out and communicate issues, this was my toughest budget because I didn't have a sales tax to help offset us … I felt like it was a team effort that department heads worked with me, delaying, pushing out costs in future years, if possible,” Landers said. “At this point, the budget is in the hands of the Legislature. Future budget meetings will be held to arrive at a consensus with the Legislature and make changes as recommended to manage the budgets. I hope for full adoption at the November 25 meeting, and feedback and input from the community is always welcome.”

Since the budget was just turned over to legislators, they would be reviewing and discussing it, Stein said, however, “when you have 98% of your tax levy as mandated services, it is really hard.”

“There’s almost nothing left to cut, and those things that we would cut are the highly valued quality-of-life issues such as our county park, such as our participation with our outside agencies of GO ART!, Cornell Cooperative Extension, our Workforce Development folks; those are not meaningful cuts, and so we appreciate the value that we can bring to our community through those, but also through our partners in our town, in our villages, in our city, where we offer them opportunities to participate with us, and they take advantage of that,” she said. “So we are happy to be a good partner, and we look for good partnerships because shared services is the only way that we’re going to get through what we have ahead of us today.”

For the full proposed 2025 budget, go HERE. 

The Birds and Bees Protection Act is a seemingly simple enough and all-natural sounding title that most anyone would be for it, wouldn’t they?

Well, not everyone. Shelley Stein, CEO of Stein Farms in Le Roy, said she had to speak up as a farmer and "a person who understands the ramifications of policy on our farmers, and our consumers, and what this is going to mean to the economy of Genesee County."

Stein has stood up against the act, now approved by the state Senate and Assembly and is awaiting signature by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

What it is
The county legislature chairwoman has her work cut out for her, not only going against a bill meant to protect nature’s precious wildlife, but also against a purported expert extolling the virtues of a Cornell University study to back up the move to prohibit the “sale, distribution or purchase by any person within the state of corn, soybean or wheat seeds coated or treated with pesticides with the active ingredients clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, dinotefuran, or acetamiprid,” as of Jan. 1, 2027.

In the simplest layman’s terms, Stein’s position is for coating the seeds in the ground with chemicals to kill maggots that wreak havoc with the crops and allow farmers to continue with their current soil management practices that encourage earthworm activity. Once the crop emerges from the ground, she says, the chemical does not harm the birds and bees in the air waiting to pollinate and feed.

If they did not treat the seeds and maggots were allowed to grow, farmers would have to more aggressively till the soil, destroying the earthworms and related best soil management practices they’ve had in place, she said, and more pesticides would potentially be used in the air to save the crops.

What does all this mean for the end result — the crop and the consumer? Potentially less harvest and more expensive produce.

Stein wrote a rebuttal to the "Times Union" after it endorsed the act and urged the governor’s approval.

Why it's important for NYS and specifically Genesee County

"New York farmers have only one shot each year to grow a crop of corn or soybeans, and waiting under the soil are insects like the seed corn maggot that love to gobble up seedlings before they emerge," she said in her opinion piece. "Coating minute amounts of neonic pesticides on corn and soybean seeds is a proven practice to keep the maggots away and assure a successful crop — but legislation passed this year would take this tool out of New York farmers’ toolbox."

Things to consider with this bill: it’s being touted as a “first-in-the-nation” measure, one that hasn’t passed in any other state. Why is that? Stein believes she has at least part of the answer. And it isn’t that the other 49 other states have less knowledge about “neonics” being used on the crop seeds. The same senator who was involved with this measure on the West Coast is now leading the charge in the East. 

"It's an important topic for farmers in New York State to win because we're the only state that these neonics will be taken away from in the U.S.," she said. "And I will just say this, it's really an alluring title of this bill. You know, Saving the Birds and Bees Protection Act. Yeah. Everybody would say well, that's a great idea. Sure, a really great idea. And we believe, as farmers and as an agricultural community, that we can absolutely do that and still be able to mitigate losses of crops and do this to the seed corn maggot. And it's the same maggot that takes its bite out of soybeans as well.

"And so this is the senator who brought this forward; he represents a portion out of Manhattan. And I believe that he thinks, according to the title, I think he thinks it's a great idea. He doesn't have any committee assignments that have to do with food and agriculture. And when the  Natural Resources Defense Council tried to do the same thing in California, California got wise and they turned him down. And so he becomes this champion, even though his district doesn't grow any corn or soybeans."

Background study #1
What about that in-depth Cornell University study that showed no economic benefits to users or provided safer, effective alternatives rather than the neonic coatings (pesticides) on corn, soybean and wheat seeds?

This assessment is based on averages, Stein said, and not on individual farm risk assessments.  

"A catastrophic loss on one farm means everything to that farm business, yet statistically, it gets lost in the shuffle when averaged over all farms," she said.

She used her own dairy farm as an example of items to be assessed, and that cannot be "averaged away" with risk factors "and expect to have sufficient feed for my herd."

Those considerations include relative seed corn maggot threat level in each of her fields, the date of planting and field soil temperatures, and the market price of feed -- corn grain and silage, and soybean meal -- to replace potential loss of crops.

Who's involved
There is quite a list of advocates for the ban, including the Sierra Club, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, Environmental Advocates of New York, Clean + Healthy, the New York League of Conservation Voters, National Audubon Society, the Bee Conservancy and Physicians for Social Responsibility of New York.

New York beekeepers claim they have lost more than 40 percent of their bee colonies largely due to neonic pesticides. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Brad Holman-Sigal, represents the 47th district in Manhattan and is a staunch supporter of banning the seed pesticide use in a string of platforms he has run on and endorsed for rights pertaining to the environment, civil liberties, LGBTQ, child victims, housing, transportation, public education and seniors.

The New York Farm Bureau has led a coalition of opponents in urging lawmakers to reject the bird and bees proposal, as it is counter to New York's sustainability goals within the New York Climate Action Council and will force farmers to use less environmentally friendly means of pest control, as Stein said, including increased tillage and airborne pesticides.

Treating the seeds, however, is environmentally superior to aggressively tilling the soil -- making more trips across the field -- to destroy maggot habitats, Stein said, which requires fossil fuels and releases carbon to the atmosphere. Best soil management practices "help make soil more fertile, more robust, if you allow earthworms to do their jobs," she said.

Pollinator experts have also identified other issues impacting pollinators, she said, such as bee parasites, malnutrition, declining habitat and diseases, "that are far more significant than judicious pesticide use."

Background study #2
Stein also pointed out that there is another Cornell study that has been ignored by politicians. The first one was done "only on economics, and it used averages. The second study that was done by Elson Shields, who's an entomologist, so he's the Bug Guy ... it is the study that's actually practical in the field," she said.

That field study, related to the seed corn maggot, corn crop and economic viability of using untreated seeds, was performed in 2021.

Research data collected in controlled studies during 2021 at the Cornell Musgrave Farm located in Aurora showed that in corn production following a cover crop, seed corn maggot economically damaged 54 percent of the non-insecticide seed-treated plots ranging from 11 to 62 percent stand losses.

These losses would be economically devastating to a farmer, where the farm loses yield on 54 percent of their acreage, ranging from $40 to $400 per acre.  Since predicting which fields will be attacked by seed corn maggot prior to planting is difficult and imprecise, the prevention of yield losses ranging from $40 to $400 per acre on a third of the acreage "easily compensates and is economically justified for the $5 per acre cost of the insecticide seed treatment for all acres," the study stated.

"Given that conservation practices such as reduced tillage and planting cover crops to reduce erosion and runoff are not only encouraged but also incentivized in New York State, it is important to understand that in the absence of these seed protectants, farmers may revert to planting fewer cover crops to avoid losses to seed corn maggot," it stated.

Go HERE for the full study. 

Final word
The Batavian asked Stein if politicians -- Gov. Kathy Hochul at this point in time -- are equipped to be making this type of decision for farmers and those that depend on them.

"The (Environmental Protection Agency) allows this practice in every other state in the nation, except for the actions of New York State, and there are those that would tell you that New York State doesn't want any agriculture anymore on our lands, which doesn't make any sense, because agriculture is New York State's number one industry as far as the economy goes, and land use goes. There's a push for high-quality local affordable food. This bill takes that away from us as well," Stein said. "Do I believe that Governor Hochul is well equipped to be making this final vote? Here's what I know. The governor represented our area as a congressperson. She is well aware of what our economy in the center of the state is based on. And she knows the negative impacts of the policies of the Democratic Party and the toll that it's taken on agriculture. I find it hard to believe that she would put one more nail in our coffin."