Plan to tap into funds stalls
A proposal that would allow the county executive to tap into a special tax stabilization fund to offset some costs associated with the coronavirus pandemic stalled in county Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee Tuesday, with some members of the committee questioning whether the circumstances were right for the county to draw from the account.
County Executive Pat Ryan has asked legislators for approval to draw up to $1,476,084.28 from the special tax stabilization fund to offset county expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ryan said the funding will be used to cover expenses the county has incurred through July as a result of the pandemic, including establishing and staffing coronavirus testing sites and providing security at those sites.
He said that while ultimately the county will be reimbursed for the expenses by the Federal Emergency Management Fund, it could be years before the county sees that repayment.
Committee members though, questioned whether the county should or must use other monies already in the budget, such as the county’s contingency fund, to offset the unexpected costs. The contingency fund currently stands at $400,000.
Committee Chairwoman Lynn Archer said with economic indicators suggesting that 2021 will be an even more difficult year than this year, to tap a fund that is meant to offset taxes before know
ing whether there are other monies available would be “premature.”
“At this point, all we have is one option and if there are other options we should be explore all of them before we tap this fund,” said Archer, D-Accord.
The tax stabilization fund was established in 2015 with a $1.5 million infusion
of cash. Since then, the Legislature has approved additional allocations to that account, which now stands at $2,594,109.51. Ryan’s proposal would draw just over one-half of the monies in that fund.
According to the resolution creating the fund, the monies can be used to protect taxpayers from “unsustainable and unpredictable fluctuations in county taxes” and guard against unforeseen increases in county costs or cuts in state aid.