Why Did Legislator Kent Abstain?

Yesterday, the Orleans County Legislature adopted the 2009 budget that includes a $3.2 million spending increase and a property tax rate of $9.16 per $1000 of assessed value – the same tax rate the county charged in 2008 resulting from a record increase.

The vote was 5-0-1. Legislator Bill Eick (R) was absent and Legislator Gary Kent (D) abstained.

Yes, you read that correctly. Legislator Kent abstained on arguably the most important vote of the year.

Why would he do that? The Journal-Register article offers a hint:

“The entire Legislature spends a lot of time on the budget,” Kent said. “Hour after hour, day after day. I think that might be misunderstood by some of the people in the community. I think generally speaking, we did a really fine job on the budget. I think it could have been a little bit better.”

That doesn’t offer much in terms of reasoning, but it does raise some questions.

For starters, abstaining is usually reserved when you have a conflict of interest on a certain piece of legislation that prohibits you from having an unbiased view on the bill. In this case, I’m not sure Kent abstaining applies. He had no conflict of interest and from what I can tell, there is nothing that prevented him from voting on this.

If Kent didn’t like the budget, he could have simply voted “no.” He didn’t offer a clear opinion either way, only saying “I think it could have been a little bit better.” That’s short on specifics, so I’m not really sure what Kent was thinking. But if there was enough for Kent to like, why not vote yes? It can go either way.

The budget comes with another spending increase ($3.2 million from 2008 to 2009) and that alone is a reason why I don’t like it. Plus, the budget upholds a tax increase that last year was the second-highest tax rate we have ever had in Orleans County. Those are two things very wrong with this budget. That is why, if I had a vote, I would have voted against the budget.

What do you think of the budget?

Wanted: An Open Budget Process

I attended last year’s Orleans County budget hearing and during the public forum segment of the hearing, I called on the Legislature to make the budget process more open. Apparently that call went ignored this year, as the budget process remained the same, closed process it has always been.

A PowerPoint presentation conducted by Chief Administrative Officer Chuck Nesbitt says that the budget process begins in June or July every year. That means the budget process is about five or six months long, depending on the start time. If you take into consideration that legislators serve a two-year term, that means they spend nearly half their time as elected officials working on a budget. That is significant.

According to CAO Nesbitt, it is mandated by the state that counties have their proposed budgets submitted by November 15. Obviously that is out of this county’s control, but I find that date to be convenient. Every year, November 15 comes after Election Day. That means counties can wait to submit a budget until after Election Day. So if you are going to raise taxes (like the Orleans County Legislature did last year), the November 15 deadline is truly convenient and helpful for elected officials who wish to remain in their seats.

During this long five or six month process, the public has only one opportunity to let its voices be heard on the budget and that comes at a public hearing, usually held in early December only days prior to the next Legislature meeting where they will pass the budget. For example, this year the budget hearing was held on Dec. 8. On Dec. 10, the Legislature took up the budget for a vote and passed the budget.

Where Are The Sacrifices?

I attended last night’s Orleans County budget hearing hosted by the Orleans County Legislature and Chief Administrative Officer/Budget Officer Chuck Nesbitt. While I do not have the ability to posted the tentative budget online (it is far too extensive to scan and the county has not made it available on their website yet) it is important to talk about, especially in these difficult economic times.

To summarize the budget, the property tax rate will remain at $9.16 per $1,000 of assessed value. That is the same rate as last year, which was the result of a record increase and the second-highest property tax rate in the last 20 years and quite possibly, in Orleans County’s history. Keep in mind that five of the legislators – Chairman Henry Smith, Vice Chairman and Finance Committee Chairman David Callard, Legislator George Bower, Legislator Bill Eick and Legislator Ken Rush – were in office last year when they raised taxes to such record levels.

The county will have appropriations of $70,665,343 for 2009, a $3,271,476 increase from 2008. Revenues are estimated to be $55,730,711, up $2,906,885 from last year. When you factor in the less cash surpluses and allowance for uncollectable taxes, you are left with a total property tax levy of $13,786,732. So while the property tax rate has remained the same, the total tax levy has actually increased, albeit a rather small increase of $76,691.

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