MALONE — As many as 50 jobs could be lost in Franklin County's $112 million tentative 2011 budget that calls for a staggering 30-percent tax increase.
"In all likelihood, there will be work-force reductions during the process of adoption of the county budget," said County Manager and Budget Officer James Feeley.
But there is expected to be an announcement Monday involving the possible merger of the county's Nursing Home and Alice Hyde Medical Center Nursing Home that would impact future budgets.
The county's 80-bed facility is a $7.6 million expense in the 2011 budget in which every $119,000 trimmed lowers the tax levy by 1 percent.
The Nursing Home would likely not close, but it may be restructured in some form, legislators said.
Unfilled vacanciesSome anticipated job losses in the tentative budget could come through retirements that must take place before the final budget-adoption deadline Dec. 20, Feeley said.
"Certain critical-function positions will have to be filled if there becomes a vacancy, but there will also be decreases in staffing for vacancies we're not filling," he said.
Legislators said they discussed a four-day work week and other measures at a series of workshops, leading to Friday's mandated release of the tentative spending plan.
The overall budget as presented is $112,465,893, an increase of 1.31 percent.
But the amount to be raised by taxes is up $3.5 million to $15,425,586, a 29.78-percent increase.
The average tentative tax rate per $1,000 of assessed-property value is $4.24 compared to $3.19 this year, according to Feeley.
Legislators used $2.2 million in fund balance and $900,000 in special-reserve funds to offset some of the anticipated expenses.
Property values downOne factor that played in the budget is that the full value of property in Franklin County is down $88,313,000 in 2010.
"The economy and the housing crisis means property values are depressed," Feeley said. "Even if this was the same budget as 2010, the tax rate would still go up because of the diminished property value."
A double-digit hike in the local contribution to the state-retirement system, higher workers' compensation and a 26-percent cost increase for employee medical-coverage premiums also had large budget impacts, said Legislature Chairman Guy "Tim" Smith (D-Fort Covington).
"The comp, retirement and medical are killing us," he said. "We've gone through and cut quite a bit, but there are going to be tough decisions made."
Smith said legislators wrestled with numbers for weeks, but still came back with high tentative figures.
"We can't let it go to the people like that," the chairman said. "We're going to get together again as a group and look at all of this.
"This was the hardest budget I've ever had," said Smith. "I've talked to other counties and the towns, and they all say the same thing: 'the medical, comp and retirement are killing us.'"
Union raises, state mandatesFeeley said health-insurance costs and retirement contributions will each increase by $1 million in 2011 and that the Nursing Home will cost an additional $710,000 to operate next year.
"Another culprit is the Highway Department which needs $900,000 more," he said, most of which is also attributed to fringe benefits and contracted wage increases.
"There are no management raises in the tentative budget," Feeley said, but members of the larger United Public Service Employees Union will receive contracted 3.75-percent pay raises, for a total of $655,000, and members of the Sheriff's Department union will get 3.2-percent raises for a total of $71,000.
Beginning Jan. 1, employees enrolled in the larger union will pay 10 percent of their health-care costs. There are 480 employed individuals and 144 retirees covered under the union contract.
Feeley pointed to mandated programs and services that the county had no choice in funding, such as Medicaid coverage, the Probation Department, the Assigned Counsel office and indigent-defense expenses, the District Attorney's Office, Public Health Nursing Services, the County Jail and Foster Care.
"The state generously gives its support (to a program or service) at first then surreptitiously lowers the funding until the burden falls to local government," he said. "I just got an e-mail saying they are taking $15,000 in revenue we anticipated for indigent defense this year."
'We don't want to close it'Finance Committee Chairman Earl Lavoie (D-Malone) said more tough decisions are ahead as the final tinkering is done with the budget.
"I hope the revenue will pick up," he said. "We've used a lot of our reserves, and the tax rate is going up about $1.04 from this year.
"But the Nursing Home might be coming together," Lavoie said. "We're going to look at a lot of things and work with the hospital on it.
"I hate to do this, but we're down to the nitty gritty," he said. "We don't want to close it, but we'll still look at it and see where to go. These are some hard decisions."
Legislator Gordon Crossman (D-Malone) stressed that no matter what happens with the operation of the Nursing Home, "the people will continue to get the same level of care and same services."
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
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