|
|
The Town Board conducted a public hearing on the proposed 2009 budget prior to its regular business meeting on Nov. 5. All members of the board were present.
Post-retirement packages
Helen Grosso asked whether an actuarial study is a state requirement to project what retirement and health insurance benefits would cost in the future.
Supervisor Beth Coursen responded that the tentative budget provides $30,000 for this purpose. She said that towns the size of Pawling must now comply with these requirements that necessitate the town to calculate the cost of all post-retirement benefits for all employees under the town's current policies.
"Once that calculation is done the town is required to minimally carry that amount of money as a liability on our books. It is recommended that in addition to carrying it as a liability on your books that you also begin to fund your post-retirement benefits," explained Coursen.
Coursen said her ballpark estimate of the town's exposure under its current policies is approximately $3.5 million.
Grosso said she believes this also applies to school districts and that it is her understanding that these benefits under state law can't be reduced to beneficiaries who have already retired.
Coursen said she did not reduce any benefits to any town employee who has already retired in her tentative budget.
Grosso also questioned how many board members took the health insurance buy- out last year because it was raised from $500 to approximately $3,700.
Coursen said all board members did so last year.
Grosso suggested that the board consider phasing in contributions to benefits because it is too much to promise. She said she has a list of elected officials who receive full health benefits.
Coursen said that is correct.
Grosso said most of these positions are not full-time as far as hours but they still are eligible for full benefits after 10 years. She said "this blows me away" and that it is time for the board to step up and correct this situation.
Grosso also said the stipend situation should be examined because it appears that some employees are paid more for extra work performed in their regular hours of service and not in additional hours.
Deb Ondo asked if pre-funding is necessary for post-retirement benefits and if so, how does the board plan to do so.
Coursen responded, "I think that it is critical that we pre-fund that liability. The first part of it is identifying that liability. I think it is around $3.5 million so I predict in the 2010 budget there will be the first payment toward that will be between 10-15% of that, so we anticipate that in the 2010 budget under our existing policies for health insurance and other post-retirement benefits that we should put in an additional $300-400,000 in that budget."
Coursen said that the state comptroller's office is looking into this issue across the state. She said that pursuant to a 1999 resolution all town board members, the supervisor, the tax collector, the town clerk and the town justices are reported as working 30 hours per week while the town highway superintendent is reported as working 40 hours per week.
She added that the comptroller's office is asking for documentation of this and that beginning Jan 1, 2009, the town board will have to adopt a resolution stating what hours are required by each position and providing documentation of this with three months of timesheets.
Coursen went on to say that in her tentative budget for 2009 she was trying to rectify this situation by reducing a number of positions to part-time and that the town can't afford to phase it in because of its history of being overly generous with benefits.
Ondo asked why the board did not look at pre-funding any of that in this budget.
Councilman Dave Watson responded that pre-funding of post-retirement benefits was not on the table this year. He said there has been discussion concerning employees paying part of their benefits but felt the board was leaning toward not doing this instead of giving them raises, but it has not been fully decided yet. "The important thing for us is to deliver a budget to you guys that provides the services that the town needs at the best cost we can present it to the town and that's what we are trying to do," Watson concluded.
Ondo encouraged the board to look into this issue further as it is the wave of the future.
Watson said another way to accomplish this is to set maximum benefits when they are first hired that will give the company a fixed cost.
Councilman Mike Mayer said, "I think we owe the current employees what we offered them when they were hired." He added that he would like new hires to pay 25% of health insurance costs and be vested for retirement after 25 years, not 10.
Councilman Bill Johnson pointed out that they are looking at different health insurance options for employees that could solve this issue. He added, "I am a firm believer for years that people are civil servants not to make lots of money, they are here for benefits and the security of that position." He also pointed out that people must be employed here at the time of retirement to be entitled to lifetime health insurance.
Coursen said, "I agree that it is important to have good, long-term employees." She asked if the board would consider applying the 25% contribution to health insurance and raising the length of time for retirement from 10 to 25 years to elected officials only.
Johnson said this is a public hearing for the gathering of information and he would not be ready to act on such a proposal without more information, especially on the availability of other health insurance options.
Assessor's office
Margaret Meaney of the assessor's office wanted to know if she was going to be phased out of a job or reduced to part-time. She pointed out that her position has been full-time since 1969.
Coursen said it was her recommendation to reduce that office to two part-time positions to save money.
Meaney pointed out that in similar situations other departments were not reduced similarly and that she is angry about this situation.
Coursen asked other board members to respond. Watson responded that the budget process is still ongoing and nothing has been decided.
Johnson said they had to look at different areas to cut the budget and one solution was to look at where they only needed part-time help.
Meaney said she only wanted a level-playing field, "if we have to cut, make cuts fair to everyone."
Assessor Thomas Gastio disputed the reduction to part-time because recommendations from various places feel this position should be full-time for a town this size.
Highway department
Highway Superintendent Tyler Maile discussed cutbacks in his department and how he has tried to hire more staff. He said that his department has the same number of employees as when he started and that his department has taken on 10 new town roads with six cul-de-sacs. He described his department as one that provides a service to the town and that each employee is always busy, especially in the winter.
Coursen said that every year since she has been on the board it has been agreed that the town will maintain all country roads in the winter and that the county is charged for these services. She asked if a cost analysis has ever been done to see if the town was making or losing money on this and requested Maile to provide her with a detailed one to make an educated decision on whether or not to continue this practice.
Maile responded, "To the best of my knowledge we went into an in depth analogy that it had benefited the town."
Coursen again asked him to provide this information to the board.
John Daley said there are presently eight men who plow the roads and there is no men to plow who can be cut. He discussed the length of time each has to plow their individual routes.
Coursen said she did not recommend cutting there, only to cut the two mechanics to part-time positions.
Golf course
Russ Gray thanked the board for restoring funds to the library in the 2009 budget and that the library would be pursuing a 414 next year. He then inquired about the status of the golf course.
Coursen said the board restored that section of the budget.
Gray said it is estimated that the golf course would make $20,000.
Coursen responded, "We make those estimations every year. In my time as supervisor we have lost money at the golf course every year."
Ambulance coverage
Brian Berlandi asked if a contract had been entered into yet for ambulance coverage.
Johnson responded that they are still working on it but he is confident that the town will have the same coverage.
Berlandi said almost half of the ambulance calls go to rehab services and it is unfair to the town. He asked if something could be done about this, such as sharing the costs of these services.
Coursen and Johnson said they are working on this situation.
Tony Polidore asked about ambulances leaving the area and who is responsible for making sure there is another ambulance available for any other calls.
Coursen explained the 911 dispatch system and mutual aid where other ambulances back fill in these instances.
Planning board
Berlandi asked the board not to cut funding to the planning board because of the large projects before it.
Liz Allen also spoke in favor of not cutting funding here.
When asked by a man in the audience for the rationale of cutting the planning department's budget in half, Coursen responded that was not her recommendation. She spoke about the planning department having to deal with two large developments, Wind Rose and Castagna, as well as the update of the comprehensive master plan.
Watson discussed moving MS4 funding from planning into its own category.
Coursen said she still advocates full funding for planning to work on these three projects.
Johnson said the county planning department provides similar services.
Coursen said the town needs a professional to do this work.
Recreation funds
Berlandi raised the issue of funds existing in recreation that could be used to offset the budget.
Coursen explained that these three funds can't be used to offset employee costs but are for specific purposes such as long-term projects like ball fields and the moving of the town offices to Lakeside. She said she advocated that the work done at Lakeside be done by independent contractors to save money, but that the board restored in-house labor to do these tasks.
Watson said he is in favor of adding more projects to use these funds but that has to be looked at.
Berlandi encouraged the board to find a way to use these funds.
Polidore encouraged the board to do more for youngsters to give them something constructive to do. He complimented recreation director Melissa Smith on doing a great job.
Phil DeRosa asked where $200,000 of the $250,000 went to that was allocated to move the town offices to Lakeside.
Coursen said it went to Joe Zarecki for engineering studies.
Police coverage
Larry O'Neill said he is in favor of keeping the amount of funding for dedicated patrols in the town at the 2008 level of $15,000 because almost all of the high profile crimes took place in the village. He said other things should take precedence.
Coursen said there are additional reasons for increasing coverage at this time. She reported that in a two-year period, from October 2006 through October 2008, according to information provided by the DCSO, there were 2,871 incidents in the Town of Pawling, with 145 serious crimes including assaults, burglaries, larcenies, robberies, sexual offenses and stolen vehicles.
Coursen added, "Yesterday I got an announcement from County Executive Bill Steinhaus. Steinhaus announced that all zone patrols in Dutchess County will be eliminated. He offered the following suggestions to local municipal officials. We can form a police agency, we could rely on the state police or we can contract with the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office. So I feel the need for Dutchess County Sheriff's Office coverage is more pressing now and there is a need for more than $300,000." She went on to say that $300,000 did not provide 24/7/365 coverage.
O'Neill pointed out that $300,000 would result in a nine percent increase in the budget. He said they would only lose patrols but if there is a call for a burglary or car accident, the sheriffs will come.
Coursen explained they would not, that eventually the state police would have to handle all calls.
Johnson asked if all of the sheriffs would be out of work. He directed his question to Deputy Sheriff TJ Hanlon.
Hanlon responded by saying that Steinhaus did cut the budget for the sheriff's office and conveyed to municipalities that it was their responsibility to pay for any patrols. He added he is not sure how this will play out but under Steinhaus' plan if a town does not have a contract with the sheriff's office, any 911 call will have to be dealt with without the sheriff's office. He said that the state police have stated they do not have the manpower to patrol the entire county.
Coursen pointed out that the state police is a reactive law enforcement agency while the sheriff's office is proactive. Without funding she says they will have to rely solely on the state police.
Bob Eichenger complained about the police's handling of an incident on Dodge Road involving a number of teens.
Hanlon responded that he did not know what happened at Dodge Road because he wasn't there, but described arresting a number of young people who went off into the cemetery illegally at the recent Homecoming event. He described another event where a parent called because a number of underage teens were at his home drinking. The parent called the sheriff's office for assistance and they got the teens home. Hanlon went on to say that these teens then called Butch Anderson at home at 2 a.m. for advice.
Hanlon said it was not the police's responsibility to parent children. Hanlon also described how the police have to work within the law, for instance he can't arrest someone who is only 14-years-old. He said there are people who feel other people's children should be arrested, and not theirs. He asked the public not to blame them for things that are not in their control.
One woman asked where are the parents when all of this was going on.
Coursen described how the town only has zone patrols now while the village spends 22% of its budget for dedicated patrols. She also fears that in these economic times people may take part in types of activities that they normally would not.
Coursen said, "I think it is irresponsible of County Executive Steinhaus 20 days before this local board, and probably 20 other boards in Dutchess County, have to adopt a budget, we have to form a police agency or come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars with no heads up? Our first priority as elected officials is the health, safety and welfare of our residents ... I can't wait for the county Legislature to duke this out and decide who is going to win. We don't have time to wait for that. Their budget deadline is later than ours. We have no choice, I submit, we have to put this in our budget."
Gray feels that this should remain at the county level and the same should apply for ambulance services. He said it would be more cost effective and said the county executive should not put each town in this predicament.
Coursen said the history with Steinhaus is he wants no responsibility for ambulance and now for police protection.
Johnson said of Steinhaus, "He's basically playing dare." He went on to say that if any towns contract it will simply serve to lower the county budget but that Steinhaus would not deny police coverage.
Coursen disagreed with how Steinhaus did this, she said she was sure he has been working on his budget for at least two months, but just informed the towns at the last minute.
County Legislator Dave Kelly addressed the room. He just came from a meeting on this issue. He showed the room his budget book that he received at 4:55 p.m. on Friday afternoon. He said they have until Dec. 7 to vote on this budget.
Kelly said the meeting included Undersheriff Kirk Imperati, County Clerk Brad Kendall, state Sen. Steve Saland, Assemblyman Marcus Molinaro and District Attorney Bill Grady.
Kelly said, "We were talking about everything in this document. What the deputies are talking about and what the supervisor is talking about is true. The cuts that are proposed in this budget are harsh. To restore the cuts is well over $30 million ... It's a flawed document. We have the next month to distinguish what we need to do."
He discussed how members of his party are going to continue to meet regularly to discuss these issues but assured the audience that they will do what they have to do for public safety. However, he advised the town to do what it needs to do to protect the citizens of Pawling, especially considering that the Legislature does not have to act until Dec. 7 and that the Legislature has to act in a fiscally prudent manner for all of the citizens of Dutchess County.
Coursen asked Kelly where a supermajority is needed in the budget process.
Kelly said a simple majority is needed to amend the budget but for single-line item vetoes by Steinhaus a supermajority of 17 votes of the Legislature is necessary to restore that specific item.
Coursen said she understands Kelly will lobby for this, but he is only one vote, and that "we have to protect ourselves."
Mark Chipkin noted the importance of the school resource officer program and expressed a desire to see this continue.
Kelly pointed out Steinhaus tried to eliminate that program in prior years but the Legislature restored it.
Hanlon pointed out that having no or little police coverage could impact homeowner's insurance. He also pointed out that there is no way to determine how much is saved by having police as a deterrent in the community.
Coursen left the public hearing open on the budget for additional oral and written comments.
Johnson suggested that the board should send a letter to Steinhaus expressing its full support of continuing the patrols by the DCSO and the exploration of increased patrols.
Coursen seconded the motion, the board passed it unanimously and Coursen agreed to send it as soon as possible.
