New Paltz, NY – Below is the statement from Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) given at the public hearing convened by the Mandate Relief Council today at SUNY New Paltz:
Good afternoon, and on behalf of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, thank you for convening today’s public hearing.
Let me begin by stating clearly that the issue is not with mandates themselves. Mandates provide essential framework for minimum services to be provided. There is great opportunity, however, to provide flexibility on delivery of mandated services.
For many years, Westchester was a leader in proposing and implementing innovative programs to provide alternative options for mandated service delivery. Authorized after review by the appropriate State agency, many of these initiatives were terminated to reduce costs in the near-term.
The response from Westchester to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s proposed 2012-2013 Executive Budget was simple: this is a bold plan that will continue New York’s path to back to being the Empire State. The crux of the Governor’s plan rests on his full understanding of the weight of unfunded mandates on local governments and the inclusion of strong mandate relief in this Executive Budget—and the essential requirement that we all work together to achieve these goals.
The plan to eliminate the automatic 3% growth in local Medicaid costs over a five-year period and reducing costs to Westchester County by taking over administrative responsibilities, eliminating the associated expenses, as outlined in the Governor’s Executive Budget, is a prudent, fiscally responsible course. This type of transition will ensure that necessary corrections can be implemented and no New Yorker suffers needlessly. In Westchester, $211 million out of $548.4 million, or 38.5% of the County tax levy for 2011, was used to pay Medicaid costs.
Indeed, the only way to achieve order of magnitude property tax relief is by reducing State mandates, and reforming the way Medicaid is financed—and the elimination of its growth in local budgets–begins this historic process.
While we are discussing Medicaid, Mandate Relief should equalize the basis for mandated expenses. The Westchester County Health Care Corporation, a Public Benefit Corporation, must pay pension expense based on the last fiscal year, yet is reimbursed at 2005 Medicaid rates. This is a disparity that must be corrected.
Likewise, Governor Cuomo saw that a much smaller mandated cost comes with having to fund early intervention health costs, which is why we appreciate the Governor’s reforms that amend public health law to prohibit insurers from denying claims in this regard, which translates to increased county revenues and tax relief.
The proposal to shift Early Intervention (EI) costs from the Counties to overburdened school districts needs further study. Counties need the ability to provide or contract for provision of services identified by EI professionals. Counties need to be reimbursed at the rate that is required under the current State law—50%. In Westchester County, we could lower out tax levy by 7% through this action alone.
Insourcing gives us the potential to work with public sector stakeholders to identify and remove roadblocks that prevent public sector employees to compete with the private sector. Private entities still have expenses, like pension or health costs and are able to turn a profit which is eliminated in the public sector business model.
Finally, mandate relief must include a recommendation that debt service for capital projects be excluded from the tax cap. Investment in our public infrastructure—schools, roads, bridges—is essential, as it creates jobs and protects the health and safety of New Yorkers.
And so it goes. As legislators, along with Governor Cuomo and our government partners at every level, we’re constantly at work identifying mandated costs and trying to find creative and responsible ways to alleviate—or eliminate—them.
The Mandate Relief Council, as a clearinghouse for this information and the successful efforts of municipal and local governments across the state, deserves proper recognition for its role as part of a mandate relief package that will save local governments and school districts more than $125 million.
Thank you.