State mandates have been decreased

Nov 17, 2015 at 11:55 pm by Observer-Review


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State mandates have been decreased

YATES, SCHUYLER COUNTIES--The percent of mandated services that make up the county budget has seen a decrease in the past few years. Yates County Treasurer Nonie Flynn provided information showing the total mandated costs in the 2016 tentative budget make up 56.7 percent of the budget. This is down from the 65.22 percent they represent in the 2015 adopted budget, and is also lower than the 2014 mandate total of 60.19 percent.
Flynn said the total net cost of mandated services in the tentative 2016 budget amounts to $10,155,522, which is $1,595,578 (13.58 percent) less than 2015's mandated costs. The largest decreases can be seen in social services programs, which declined $1,391,467 in 2016 from 2015, a 57.96 percent decrease. Medicaid costs also decreased by $125,413 (2.93 percent), followed by New York State pension, which saw a decrease of $94,975 (4.17 percent). There were also decreases in the community college expense as well as in special education pre-kindergarten and early intervention.
"The Medicaid costs have gone down because the Affordable Care Act requires the federal government to contribute more toward Medicaid," Flynn said. "This certainly helps out the counties in New York State because we contribute so much toward Medicaid compared to counties in other states. New York State also capped the increase in Medicaid for counties."
Flynn said the state pension costs are declining because more employees are retiring from the higher level tier one and new employees are coming in at the new tier six, where the county contributes a smaller percentage. She also said the New York State pension fund is slowly recovering from losses dating back to 2008. Flynn noted the Department of Social Services programs can swing primarily based on the number of children in foster care.
When it comes to the tax levy, these mandated services made up 74.33 percent of the $15,810,332 to be raised in taxes in 2015. However, this number also saw a decline in the tentative 2016 budget, with mandates representing 63.38 percent of the proposed $16,023,444 tax levy. The decrease in the mandated percentage can also be attributed to increased costs in non-mandated areas. The 2016 levy percentage is also lower than 2014's 69.19 percent.
Schuyler County Administrator Tim O'Hearn also said last week during the 2016 budget hearing that mandated costs only make up 63 percent of the budget, versus nearly 80 percent two years prior. O'Hearn said the shift actually reflects decreases in mandated expenses but also increases in non-mandated expenses in areas like the county highway budget, which is a non-mandated service.
"With respect to mandates, we have seen the largest drop or leveling off in the areas of pension, Medicaid and juvenile detention," O'Hearn said. "Additionally, indigent defense local share has been reduced due to state picking up more costs as part of the settlement agreement in the Hurrell v. Harring lawsuit of which we were a party with four other counties."
O'Hearn noted the percentage number came down in the current year's budget as well, with the 2015 mandated costs equaling 71 of the budget. On the other side of the equation, O'Hearn added increases in non-mandated spending, specifically highway over the past two years is the other reason for the shift in apportioning these costs/percentages.
O'Hearn said over the past two years, the highway budget increases have taken a significant portion of the decreases in the mandated expenses. "As an example, in 2016 vs. 2014 total mandated costs dropped $1,665,395," O'Hearn said. "Highway spending alone over that time period increased $1,233,656. Collectively this accounts for the shift."

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