Story Created:
Nov 12, 2009 at 7:22 PM EST
Story Updated:
Nov 13, 2009 at 12:06 AM EST
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - By a margin of 25 - 4, Oneida County lawmakers passed the proposed $359,994,666.00 budget Thursday evening. The property tax levy increase on the budget is 2.52%.
Oneida County Executive, Anthony Picente proposed the original budget. He says this budget was fair, given the multimillion dollar increases in unfunded state mandates the county now faces.
"Given the economic times that we are in, I thought it was responsible and I still believe and stand by it, that it is a responsible budget," said Picente.
One of the four legislators who voted against the budget was Democratic Minority Leader Michael Hennessy, who says the budget lacked vision for the future.
"We neglected and rejected ideas that made a lot of sense. And I think this only puts off the long term problems we are going to have in next years 2011 budget. We need to cut spending," Hennessy said.
Seven amendments to the original budget were proposed by various lawmakers. Those amendments were discussed for nearly two hours in party caucuses. Four of the seven amendments passed.
Amendments that failed:
-Eliminating the $10,000 funding for Utica Monday Nite
-Eliminating the funding for 15 currently vacant Oneida County Jobs
-Salary freezes on non-union employees who make more than $50,000
Amendments that passed:
-Reducing a Safety Officer position, and six months of training
-$202,000 in cuts to the District Attorney's Office
-Adding a Veterans Service Officer
-Paying the towns of Vernon and Verona $25,000 each for legal fees in the fight against the Oneida Indian Nation
The amendment to hire another Veterans Services Officer will not affect the tax levy because money was moved around to balance it out. That new position will pay $36,663 after salary and health insurance is factored in.
The amendment to pay the towns of Vernon and Verona $25,000 each for legal fees passed by a margin of 15 -14. However, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente says he will veto that amendment because it "sets a bad precedent". Picente says he feels by allocating these funds, other municipalities will seek such funding. Picente says the county has already spent money on their own lawsuits.
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