Oddly, the word “debt” has its origins in the Latin words debere (to owe) as well as de habere (to have) highlighting both sides of its doubled-edged sword. Following our April update on the county’s finances, in May we considered not only what we have, but what we owe. We did so alongside additional bond debt deliberations. On our agenda were two big bonds and three small bonds.

                Outstanding debt on 12/31/11 was $110.7million of which in 2012 the county will pay $13.7million in principal payments (additionally in 2012 we’ll pay $4.1million in interest payments). To put this into perspective our outstanding indebtedness presently represents only 4% of the constitutional debt limit. The constitutional debt limit is set by the NYS Comptroller’s Office. Of 57 counties reporting in New York State, only 14 counties have a lower debt than Dutchess County.

                Additionally there is presently $10million of authorized but unissued debt. These are bonds for which the Legislature has passed, but for which the County Executive has not yet authorized for them to go out to bid. Under our charter the Executive is the chief financial officer. We legislators must approve borrowing, but the actual decision-making on timing and need is left to the Executive’s discretion. Authorized and unissued amounts automatically self-repeal after ten years or sooner when the capital project is closed out.

                On our agenda were several large bonds, most routine for public works projects, purchases and repairs. The first in the amount of $1,721,348 passed for highway and bridge improvements in accord with our capital plan.

                The second large bond, in the amount of $1,998,000 is designed to purchase vehicles for various county departments. This bond received plenty of discussion, particularly because of the 62 cars to be purchased 51 of them are intended for the Sheriff’s Department. Replacing aging vehicles is obviously a priority particularly for those involved with emergency response. However this high number was controversial due to a labor issue that presented itself when in an attempt to balance last year’s budget the previous county executive ordered a fair number of deputy cars seized and sold. In the past compensation packages ...

                Among the most pressing economic issues discussed by attendees at a recent meeting of the Harlem Valley Chamber of Commerce was the future use of the Taconic DDSO grounds. Community members felt that something business-oriented should be attracted and that government leaders should assist in the conversation, particularly because the property is state-owned. To that end in recent times I have been carrying this topic forward in community conversations in asking local people what they would like to see. One idea that has surfaced is a Wassaic Slaughterhouse.

                The property that housed Taconic DDSO is zoned for mixed use meaning it can be used for commercial or residential use, or both. A transit-oriented development that takes good advantage of the location’s proximity to the train station has in recent times been the proposed next use of the site. It may still be the way to go, but a region still recovering from the 1994 closure of the jobs-rich Harlem Valley Psychiatric Hospital seems desperate for ideas that will stimulate economic development, and help to again place Wassaic on the map. Perhaps a business park with light manufacturing, or warehousing can be assembled? Certainly there are advantages to the site including recent upgrades to the water system, central heating, access to current sewer systems and the ability to hook up to the electrical grid with an entire power station on site.

                Perhaps one old idea is ripe for reconsideration, namely the development on site of a USDA-approved slaughterhouse. Such a concept was the topic of a 2000 feasibility study by the Hudson Valley Livestock Marketing Task Force.

                Today, livestock producers face a shortage of slaughterhouses and must often travel great distances such that the current supply system does not meet present needs. The closest slaughterhouse is a small operation in Pine Plains, which serves a valuable part of the community but with a heavy demand. The greater meat market has to travel to Canaan, Schenectady, and Cooperstown or as far as Scranton, Penn. Not only is this less humane to the livestock, but the impact of transport increases the stress levels of the animals which translates into poorer quality ...

                Dutchess County government welcomed its newest legislator, David Sherman from Northeast, at its April meeting. Sherman was selected to succeed Legislator Gary Cooper who resigned to take a county job in the highway department. The meeting provided insight into various components of the function and roles played by county government.

                The meeting included several presentations including a State of the Environment slideshow narrated by Washington resident and Environmental Management Council member, Vicki Kelly. Legislators were updated about the EMC’s education and advocacy efforts in such priority areas as climate control, recycling, invasive species, and air and water pollution.

                The Medical Examiner updated legislators on development plans for the new facility that the Legislature bonded for last summer. We reviewed proposed equipment purchasing including autopsy tables, freezers and lifts, that now determined will permit construction to proceed.

                The Public Works Department presented updates on highway projects in 2011 that included repaving on County Rt. 81 in Amenia and County House Road in Washington. 2012 projects for which legislators will vote on a bond in May will include bridgework, culverts and repaving on three roads in Amenia. In unrelated actions the Legislature voted to accept federal funding for other road projects including those damaged by hurricanes Irene and Lee. We also voted to move forward with the bridgeway over Route 55 in Lagrange that will complete the Dutchess County Rail Trail.

                We voted to bond for two small projects: the first, $319,500 for the county’s share of buses for mass transit; the second, $225,000 for the county’s share to fix a roof at Dutchess Community College. I supported the first, but not the latter. I voted no on the college roof because I didn’t think the college met the burden of proving need and felt the county would be better served by preserving its funds in what will prove to be a tough budget year.

                We were briefed by the County Budget Director on the 2013 budget process, which is about to get underway. Early projections suggest a $40-million budget gap. The 2012 budget was balanced using $23-million from fund balance, and state reforms to ...

                This column has recently been considering philosophical theory and contemporary practice regarding the issue of justice with respect to taxation practices. The impetus has been a county law I am sponsoring to grant tax exemption status to disabled property owners below certain incomes. Such an exemption works by granting a property tax discount to those who qualify, while expecting the rest of the community to make up the difference. In a day and age where class warfare is on the rise, and there is much voter angst being channeled against so-called “entitlements,” I have been looking to Aristotle’s ancient discourses on justice and the role of the State for justification. According to the Golden-Tongued Philosopher (as Cicero called him), legislators ought to decree the “justest laws” with justice defined in terms of “equality,” while also considering the advantage of the state and the common good of its citizens.

                 Clearly shielding members of our community who may have spent decades or more contributing to our sense of community but who have encountered a disability and on a limited income are now unable to pay serves the common good. We do the same for our seniors via STAR rebates, as we recognize it is to everyone’s advantage to retain our elder populations. The same is true for the courage and strengths of will for those who struggle with disabilities.

                Only the underlying issue of fairness remained with respect to each paying their “fair” share. Aristotle again has insight. His definition of equality is “not for all, but only for equals.” By classification those designated as “disabled” are less than equal in power or ability, although certainly not in dignity. The injustice is not in over-charging the healthy to pay for the disabled, but in refusing to acknowledge the disabled’s inferiority to pay.

                 In practice the economics of taxation has sought to provide equalization relief to those “unequals” due to age, disability and wealth through use of tax exemptions. One means passed initially by New York State in 1998 (and modified in 2006) has been to provide a tax exemption ...

                 A year ago the New York State Legislature shrewdly granted social acceptance to the concept of raising taxes and gave license to politicians statewide to annually do so absent the customary public outcry. Disguised as a property tax cap, state leaders marketed, passed, and then patted themselves on the back for giving school districts, county legislatures and town boards the freedom to annually raise taxes by reframing the debate. No longer is the question whether to increase, but by how much. In essence the property tax cap stipulates that taxes rise each year by two percent (3.3 percent in Dutchess) unless legislators crave more. Now so long as legislators keep it within the limit, they are portrayed as heroes, and the focus on the increase is lost.

                The conversation in government before and after the tax cap enactment is night to day. The Dutchess County Legislature conversation changed from whether to raise taxes or cut spending to prevent the increase (our main topic of debate in 2010) to whether or not to exceed the property tax cap (our primary question in 2011). Unlike in 2010, where we cut spending, merged county departments, and laid off employees to balance our budget without raising taxes, in 2011 the status quo was preserved. We raised taxes 3.3%, while purging our reserve funds by $23-million to cover expenses for which we lacked revenues. Again legislators patted themselves on the back for a job well done and boasted that we did not exceed the tax cap.

                Now that we have a property-tax culture that assures annual tax increases, the conversation has again shifted: not to whether taxes should rise, nor by how much, but rather how we can reduce the tax burden for interest groups. In other words, taxes are going up anyhow; who should we protect by singling out to exclusively receive tax relief?

                Through the use of tax exemptions state legislators shield some from the tax burden at the expense of others, for which local governments can elect to opt in. The largest group to receive favorable treatment (and justifiably so) is our seniors who below a certain ...

                There’s no law without philosophy. I’ve tried to stay true to this simple maxim in both my ruminations and approach to law-making. I constantly ask myself to what underlying principle is any law rooted, and how does it fare in particular with the U.S. and NYS Constitutions to which we legislators swear allegiance. Beyond that I look to authorities including the great (and sometimes not so great) philosophers, legal tradition, and public opinion as voiced on numerous issues. I personally strive for a legislative version of the Hippocratic Oath of doing no harm, which is why I’ve made it a habit to read annually the short and concise handbook of French Revolution-reactionary Frédéric Bastiat, entitled “The Law.”

                While I have mixed reviews on Bastiat’s total discourse, the thrust of doctrine has always haunted me. Bastiat suggests the law operates as a form of plunder when it takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons whom it does not belong. Overall he warns against a system that seeks to enrich everyone at the expense of everyone else. As a result he says the laws passed by legislators have the power to displace capital, labor and populations. These state-created displacements, he says, annihilates justice while at the same time burdening government with added responsibilities that go beyond its proper functions. This legal plunder – his term for government sanctioned theft of personal property via taxation – takes on many forms including tariffs, subsidies, minimum wage, public schooling, entitlements and other euphemisms for socialist intervention. I would argue that the income taxing authority Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution itself is a vehicle for legal plunder, yet we legislators take oaths to uphold it.

                I am often troubled in reconciling Bastiat with our social structure that in so many ways has already embraced and built up a system of social equalization that Bastiat calls “perverted law.” He warned against its ability to cause conflict by violating property instead of protecting it. I thought a lot about this a year ago when I met with Amenia property owners complaining of being overtaxed on their homes to pay for public schools. While ...

                In 1713, Dutchess County residents elected their government leaders for the first time. Fast forward to 2012. This year the size of government and its inability to coordinate will provide unparalleled election opportunities in rapid succession. Unfortunately each comes with a steep price tag.

                On March 20^th voters in our region will vote to elect a representative to the New York State Assembly in a special election to replace Marc Molinaro who resigned to serve as County Executive. A month later New York will hold its presidential primary on April 24^th, followed by a court ordered primary for U.S. Congressional seats set for June 26^th. The primary date will be moved up from September in compliance with the federal Military and Overseas Voting Act (MOVE) that mandates additional time for absentee ballots. The State also will move up its September primary and is eyeing August for such purpose. The result, including November’s general election, is that voters will go to the ballot box five times in 2012.

                Each election costs about $100,000 to administer, with costs shared between the county and towns. At the County level, we budgeted for the special and presidential elections, but not for the additional primary date which exists onlu because state and federal leaders have failed to discuss a common primary date. (State legislators are resisting the notion to hold state primaries on the June 26^th federal primary day as the Albany Legislature is still in session in June giving challengers an unfair campaigning advantage).

                 Especially hard hit will likely be our towns who under cost-sharing must pay for the local election costs from unbudgeted sales tax revenues.

                Cost controls are needed to minimize damages. In 2010, I authored the Legislator’s Guide to Cost-Savings at the Board of Elections, a 59-page report that suggested local ways to rein in spending. We adopted some of these ideas later in the year that amounted to a half million dollar reduction in board of election costs.

                How can costs be further mitigated? For starters it makes perfect sense for the federal and state primary be held ...

The State made available to Dutchess County funding to build up community mental health in the wake of the Hudson River Psychiatric Center closure. The amount offered was $1.875-million, with $1.5-millon renewing annually, restricted to “diversionary” programs to reduce hospital admissions and arrests. This month the collective will of county government voted to “divert” and pervert the actual intention of such monies.

The County Legislature voted to accept the funding, but not with the mentally ill in mind. Just about half -- $900,000 will go not for the furtherance of mental health services, but will be “diverted” to replenish the county’s all-but depleted rainy-day fund balance (the 2012 budget was balanced using $26million of the $29million fund). The remainder will go towards preserving union jobs in the county workforce that were cut in the 2012 budget providing mobile crisis response services to aid law enforcement at rates higher than nonprofit professionals could provide. A small pittance will boost services at St. Francis Hospital and PEOPLe Inc. (my employer, meaning I was barred by legislative rules from voting and participating in floor debates). Seemingly forgotten are those once served by HRPC.

Historically Dutchess County has welcomed the mentally ill from across the state. It did so in connection with the state-administered Hudson River and Harlem Valley Psychiatric Centers and Taconic DDOS even before the 1934 reforms to the State Constitution enshrined social welfare including those suffering from mental disorder or defects. These changes, ratified during the Great Depression, required the State to assume a major role in social welfare, alongside counties. With this change came new funding with the growth of state financing of health-related initiatives. In 1938 the State paid just $5.8-million annually in health-related expenses compared to $77-million just thirty years later. At the same time counties grew statewide from $23.4-million to $64.9-million. Then came advances in psychotropic medications, the deinstitutionalization movement, and in the modern day, economic recessions. ...

                 An historic chapter came to an end in Dutchess County on January 26^th when a 145-year-old institution, Hudson River Psychiatric Center, closed its doors for the last time. The only state hospital closure among 28 in existence in the state, Governor Cuomo targeted HRPC in the 2011 Budget in an attempt to close a $10billion deficit. It now joins Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Wingdale that closed in 1994 under the previous Governor Cuomo. Both hospitals once housed 6,000 patients in their heyday at a time when Dutchess County led the state in in-patient psychiatric care. Today, this historic role is preserved in a museum documenting the county’s leadership role in psychiatric care still housed on the HRPC grounds but perhaps destined for relocation to Marist College.

                I studied psychopathology at Marist beneath HRPC’s former director and learned via slideshows and anecdotes a wealth of history regarding HRPC’s role in the lives of its patients. Some I had already seen firsthand through visits as an advocate for mental health services as a member of the county mental health subcommittee, and secondly as a provider at PEOPLe Inc., a mental health nonprofit at which I work. But my strongest impression of HRPC predates my professional focus.

                In 1986, I was introduced to Hudson River Psychiatric Center when my mother became a patient there. I was eight years old. My dad brought me there to visit her to help her get better, and largely because I missed my mom. Even then I realized that the hospital was there to help mom get well so she could return home. At the time HRPC was part of a much larger campus, so that more people were treated locally meaning that families like me could come and visit and help our loved ones heal quicker so that they could come home faster. In subsequent years, as HRPC downsized and Saint Francis Hospital likewise cut back on beds, when mom needed hospitalization she was forced to Westchester and Putnam counties. This made visitation ...