JOHNSTOWN - In his 20th State of the County address, Fulton County Administrative Officer Jon Stead touched on some familiar themes - mismanaged state government, the Medicaid burden and other unfunded mandates harming taxpayers.
However, Stead also said Friday the county should be "optimistic," as it is poised to do better fiscally than most municipalities due to tough decisions made by the Board of Supervisors in the past year and the county's typically low debt.
"I think we're going to be one of the first counties out of the tunnel when things start to stabilize," Stead said.
Stead, the county's top administrator, give his annual speech at a Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry breakfast at the Holiday Inn.
Stead started his address by discussing what he called "the disappearing county" - a reference to county services statewide being eliminated through the state's mandated 2 percent tax cap in 2011. He called the tax cap a "public relations gimmick" but acknowledged it is very popular with the public.
"It is changing the way your government is serving you now and out into the future," he said.
Stead said supervisors last year made many unprecedented moves in the shaping of the $93 million 2012 budget, but they still ended up with 6.3 percent increase in the tax levy - higher than the county's designated 3.78 percent state tax cap.
"The math of the cap does not add up," Stead said.
He told the audience the cap eliminates county services and "virtually guarantees" tax increases by government and school districts.
Stead said Fulton County established a "survival strategy" in 2011 that included job cuts through attrition, essential-services reduction, a moratorium on conferences and training and reductions to outside agencies. He said even though the average county tax rate is up by 5.5 percent for 2012, the county had millions less in appropriations than for 2011. Key savings included selling the county Residential Health Care Facility for $3 million, divesting the nursing service, privatizing two mental health clinics and streamlining county Office for Aging operations to save $85,000.
The county's staff-reduction plan and hiring freeze saved $1.5 million, he said.
Nevertheless, Stead said, the county still couldn't meet the tax cap, although it luckily has only used 0.3 percent of its allowable debt limit.
"Most counties are 25 times that as far as debt," Stead said. "Our debt is extremely low -less than $600,000."
He also said the county gets unfairly criticized by those who don't think supervisors bring problems to the attention of state officials.
"Fulton County has been one of the most active of the small counties in New York state, as far as lobbying for change," he said. "We're serious about that."
Stead also said "it's crap" when state officials tell cheering crowds that the state hasn't raised taxes.
As he has in other years, Stead mentioned Medicaid several times. He said the county taxpayers' Medicaid bill is over $13 million and represents 50 percent of the nine state mandates that control 90 percent of county budgets.
He said Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken some action to ease the burden by proposing a partial state takeover of the "hard cap" on the local share of Medicaid, something that will result in $480,000 in savings for Fulton County by 2015.
"One thing you can say about the new governor is he is a leader," Stead said.
He said Cuomo is more charismatic than most state officials and he has "set the stage" for more effective state government.
"But let's face it, the bar isn't that high at the moment," Stead said.
He said an "extremely serious" Fulton County Board of Supervisors has taken "important, dramatic" action to ready the county for future financial challenges.
Stead said the county continues to have a bright future in other ways, such as Fulton-Montgomery Community College and a "strong" Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services. He mentioned assets to the region such as the new GlobalFoundries chip fab plant in Malta, Fage USA in Johnstown, the Walmart Supercenter being built in Gloversville, and the planned Tryon redevelopment project.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com.
