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Legislators, acting as an Expanded Budget Committee, heard four program presentations in a second night of review Tuesday, as it continued to examine County Administrator Joe Mareane’s 2012 tentative County budget, presented to the Legislature a week ago.
 
Presenting tonight were the Finance Department, Cooperative Extension, the County Office for the Aging (COFA), and Information Technology Services (ITS).  Both Finance and Cooperative Extension requested no over target spending beyond what can be supported under the Property Tax Cap (2.92%), recommendations rolled into what would normally be considered their base budgets.
 
Finance Director David Squires noted one aspect of his budget would be to increase the tax search fee from $25 to $30, in line with what is charged by the City of Ithaca, projected to generate nearly $13,000 in revenue.  For Cooperative Extension, over target requests recommended within the cap, in part, restore one to two staff positions.  Director Ken Schlather noted that County financial support since 2009 has decreased by $62,000, with significant declines also in State and Federal aid.
 
For the Office for the Aging, the Administrator recommends a little over $6,500 above the cap level, to restore a part-time seasonal outreach work for the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) to half-time.  Director Lisa Holmes told Legislators that she has just learned that Federal HEAP funding could be reduced by half, which may lead New York State to eliminate funding for weatherization and home repairs, which, in turn, would produce a cut of nearly $27,000 supporting a position in her department as of April 2012.  Should that occur, Holmes will ask to apply rollover to fulfill grant requirements for 2012, an approach the County Administrator supports.
 
For Information Technology Services, the County Administrator, above the cap level, restores two staff positions from 35 to 40 hours, and has initiated addition of a Programmer Analyst position at half-time or for half the year, eliminated in 2011, to return the department to its 2010 staffing level.  Administrator Mareane told Legislators that ITS is “an extraordinarily small office for an operation our size” and is crucial to the effective functioning of all of county government.
 
Seven more presentations are scheduled, when the Expanded Budget Committee continues its review on Monday, September 19, beginning at 4:00 p.m., at Legislature Chambers of the County Courthouse, 320 N. Tioga Street, Ithaca.
 
An electronic version of the 2012 Tentative Budget, the detailed Expanded Budget Committee review schedule, and other information regarding the Tentative Budget are available for download and review on the budget page of the County web site

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