Legislature nears vote on budget for 2019

The Ulster County Legislature will vote Wednesday night on a 2019 county budget that decreases the amount to be generated by property taxes for the seventh year in a row.

On Monday, the Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved the $329 million budget proposed by Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, but not before adopting dozens of amendments to the spending plan.

Overall, committee members considered a record 31 budget amendments. Of those, 23 came from the Democratic caucus. Republicans introduced only two budget amendments, while other elected officials requested three budget changes, and the Hein administration asked for three amendments.

The amendments adopted by the Ways and Means Committee, as well as those the committee rejected, will go to the full Legislature for consideration prior to the budget vote.

Among the changes adopted by the committee was one that returned to the Legislature the power to decide which arts agencies receive county funding.

Historically, the executive budget hasn’t included funding for the county’s arts programs or other contract agencies, and decisions about which agencies receive funding, as well as funding levels, were left to the Legislature, which allocated money from the county’s contingency fund.

In his 2019 budget proposal, though, Hein created a new division within the Office of Economic Development to oversee funding for the county’s arts community, and he doubled the county’s current funding for arts-related initiatives.

The Ways and Means Committee rejected a number of amendments, including a proposal to change the position of administrative assistant to the comptroller, which was included in the Hein budget, to that of a confidential salary, as well as one that would have changed the position of administrative assistant to that of a deputy director of audit.

They also rejected a request for a paralegal in the District Attorney’s Office, as well as pay raises for some employees in the Legislature’s office and increased funding for the Ulster County Community Action Agency.

The committee also voted to reject all requests for management pay raises in excess of 2 percent after growing frustrated by the Hein administration’s failure to provide them with salary information.

During its budget review last week, the Ways and Means Committee requested the Budget Office provide them with a “back of the envelope” analysis of the salary structure of the county’s management employees.

Legislator Lynn Archer, who had requested the information, said it was “beyond comprehension” that the administration was unable to quickly provide the information.

“I don’t know how your budget is constructed without all the information at your fingertips,” said Archer, D-Accord.

Legislator Joseph Maloney, who has been critical of the Hein administration since taking office in January, suggested the failure to provide the information requested was “strategic” and “par for the course.”

County Budget Director Burt Gulnick said that when legislators requested the information, he was not given a timeframe in which to provide it. He said he expected to give them the information on Friday, two days after the budget vote.

The Ways and Means Committee also approved the creation of two new fiscal analyst positions in the Legislature’s office, as well as $5,000 for an anti-bullying program, $100,000 for restorative justice services and $8,500 for the Ulster County Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ spay and neuter program.

They did not consider any proposed changes to the budget recommended by the Legislature’s budget consultant, The Benjamin Center for Public Policy at SUNY Paltz. Among changes recommended by the center, which is led by former Legislature Chairman Gerald Benjamin, were increases in estimated sales tax and hotel/motel tax revenues and a $1 million re-

duction in the amount to be generated by property taxes.

The Hein budget calls for a spending increase of $5.1 million, or 1.6 percent, over the $323.8 million county budget adopted for 2018. The property tax levy is to drop by 0.2 percent.

Committee members voted to take money for all proposed increased spending from the county’s contingency fund, which is money set aside within the budget for unanticipated expenses that arise during the year.