Legislative Happenings
by Gary Bischoff

The most important thing any legislative body does is the budget.   This applies to the federal government, states, counties, towns and villages.   Ulster County citizens will be pleased with the 2007 Ulster County budget.  
After a process that involved legislators working in committees with department heads, the Ways and Means Committee under the leadership of Legislator Allan Lomita and County Administrator Mike Hein the budget was created.   At the time of this writing total spending is less than the 2006 budget.   This is the first time in the history of the legislature that spending is lower than the past year.   The lower spending is a remarkable accomplishment considering that 2007 is the first full year of paying bonds for the new jail, we have labor cost increases, we are loosing $4.75 million in state and federal aid, pension costs have increased, Medicaid costs have increased and health insurance costs are going up.    Despite all of this, we have managed to craft a budget where spending is 3% lower than the cost of inflation.

It was not easy to reduce spending.   In fact, we had to resort to layoffs of county workers for the first time ever.   This was painful, and every effort is being made to retrain and find opportunities for the 27 employees affected.  

Unlike several previous budgets, no money was taken from the fund balance.   In fact we are adding to the fund balance.  

Two departments have been consolidated.  
Probation, Community Corrections and Alternative Sentencing are combined into one department, which will yield long term cost and efficiency savings.   The Office For Aging is now part of Social Services.   This will help with a single point of entry for anyone needing assistance regardless of age or circumstance.  

We have continued reforms that were started in 2006, and they include adding an auditor, a contract manager to review all county contracts and a fleet manager to properly manage the fleet of cars that the county has.

The 2007 Ulster County Budget puts Ulster County on solid financial footing for the future.   The budget will be voted on by the full Legislature on December 6.

Gary Bischoff
246 - 6858 evening
246 - 9013 day