State behind on payments to counties

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September 27, 2011

— Franklin County officials peeved over delays in funds needed for required programs

DENISE A. RAYMO Press-Republican The Press Republican Tue Sep 27, 2011, 03:28 AM EDT

MALONE — The frustration of trying to balance a budget without alienating taxpayers surfaces each time Franklin County legislators hold a budget session.

County Manager and Budget Officer Thomas Leitz said the state owes the county reimbursements for services it has already provided through its Department of Social Services, its Nursing Home and the Public Nursing Services.

And Franklin County is not alone.

OWED BY STATE

The Franklin County Treasurer's Office said that, as of last Thursday, it is owed $3.8 million from Albany.

Clinton County is owed about $6.1 million, according to the County Treasurer's Office.

Essex County officials said they cannot easily pinpoint a number for their reimbursements owed.

PAYMENTS DUE

Franklin County says the payment delay forces the use of reserves to continue programs and services that the state mandates it to provide.

Because any extra money it holds is tied up in the day-to-day operations and payroll expenses, the county cannot invest any of it to generate revenue.

At the same time the county waits to be paid, it is required to send the state $200,000 a month toward Medicaid costs.

"If we don't make our $200,000 payment, they charge us interest," Leitz said. "We're penalized. "We would like to see some fairness, more equity.

"Other counties are having to borrow on a short-term note to make payroll and are paying the bills they have to," Leitz said, adding that the thinking might be, "If you don't pay a vendor, it's no big deal. But if you miss payroll, you're in big trouble."

MANDATE WOES

The argument for counties centers on state mandates and the constitutionality of the state requiring them to provide services without the obligation to fully fund them.

Franklin County has stated time and again that if it were not for state mandates, the county's sales-tax revenue would be more than enough to fund the government, and there would be no property taxes.

AMENDMENT EFFORT

Thomas Mandeville, an adjunct lecturer in political science at Plattsburgh State, said the State Constitution gives the State Legislature the power to enact laws, but it does not get into the specifics of how the programs created under those laws would be funded.

"There's a movement afoot to have an amendment to the constitution to make unfunded mandates unconstitutional, but whether that would change anything, I don't know," he said.

"Counties can always hire a lawyer and go to the courts," Mandeville said. "They would lose, but they have to right to do that."

He said 27 states have passed an amendment restricting mandates, and there is a growing grassroots movement in New York state to bring about mandate relief.

But it would take the approval of two consecutive State Legislatures to get it to a statewide voter referendum to change the constitution.

Mandeville said Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he supports an amendment being passed but has no executive power to see that it is done.

A similar push for an amendment started in the 1980s during the last recession, Mandeville said, when the federal government was in financial trouble and started placing unfunded mandates on states.

Email Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com