Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli addressed the County Legislature Monday night presenting to them his County Financial Restructuring Plan. The plan was developed to respond to decreased sales tax revenues that are projected to be down $6.5 million by the end of the year. The plan includes staff reductions, sales tax formula changes, a new economic development plan, changes to the operations of the nursing facility and other programmatic changes. The restructuring plan includes:
Reducing the County payroll by 30 full-time positions that would save @2.34 million.
Change how sales tax revenue is distributed to municipalities.
Privatize and enhance some therapy services that would increase revenue from the nursing facility.
Create a new economic development plan that would include more aggressive marketing strategies and take advantage of the new state tax-free zones.
Make changes to county programming that would save the county $750,000.
“We are going to change the way government operates in Chemung County, period,” Tom Santulli told the legislature.
The sales tax distribution formula will be restructured starting in 2014 and will take three years to fully implement. The distribution among municipalities will be done in an equitable way, Santulli said.
“I am very interested as to the details of the new sales tax formula,” Legislator Rodney J. Strange said. “I will seek input from the towns I represent as to what they think of the new plan.”
The new economic development plan includes hiring a firm to aggressively pursue new prospects to bring more jobs to the county. The plan calls for partnering with Southern Tier Economic Growth and the Industrial Development Agency. “We are going to strongly market to businesses that would fit our niche,” Santulli told the legislators.
Good news for the County nursing facility is that if the county can generate enough revenue through privatization of some therapy services, increasing the mix of cases and reach an agreement with the unions on staffing restructuring and operational changes the facility should stay in the county’s hands. “If the unions and county can reach an agreement and sufficient revenue is raised, there would be no need to sell the facility,” Santulli said.
Strange said the real problem the county has is the unfunded mandates that cost the county millions of dollars annually. The $27,477,282 that the county takes in from property taxes all goes to fund the mandates from the state. The county must also pay an additional $10,564,838 or 30.5% of our sales tax revenue to the state to pay for these mandates,” Strange said. The total local cost of state mandated programs is $38,042,120.
Overall, Strange believes that the restructuring plan is headed in the right direction to put the county on a financially stable course over the next five years. “I believe that if this plan is fully implemented and the sales tax distribution formula is fair and equitable to all municipalities, we should be on the road to a better fiscal future over the next few years,” Strange said.
To see County Executive Tom Santulli’s “Financial Restructuring Plan” see link below:
Chemung County Financial Restructuring Plan
A special meeting of the Chemung County Legislature has been scheduled for Monday, August 19, 2013 at 7:00pm in the Legislative Chambers in the Hazlett Building at 203 Lake St., 5th floor.
The proposed changes to the sales tax distribution formula will be presented by Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli to the County Legislature. The Rural Association of Mayors and Supervisors, County Officials and the public are invited to attend.