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Debt Service and Bonding Dominates County Legislature Meeting

2012-05-22T03:35:22Z

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 had been negotiated with certain officers to include driving police cars home, which last year when the cars had been seized resulted in lower compensated officers. The previous County Executive viewed driving police vehicles home at the end of the shift as an unnecessary drain on county finances as duplicative cars were then needed for the next shift. Instead he desired the same cars be used among several officers on varying shifts. Legislators weighed the issues, and eventually voted to replace these seized vehicles by passing this bond in its entirety.

The three small bonds include $262,000 to pay for building repairs at the Sheriff’s Office and Mass Transit Building, $319,500 for buses, and $225,000 for a roof replacement at Dutchess Community College. Discussion on these projects largely focused on the criteria for bonding as some projects seem better suited for payment out of the operating budget as opposed to borrowing for them. It was noted by this legislator that many of our towns in an effort to keep taxes low make decisions more in tune with what they can afford, thereby putting off projects or purchases to healthier times. Although all three bonds passed, I voted no on the DCC bond to make the statement that in this time of financial uncertainty that many property owners are putting off repairs and purchases in an effort to tighten their belts. Government should be doing the same.

A fourth small bond to purchase printers and highway equipment generated much discussion. Its vote was put off until our June meeting.

Michael N. Kelsey represents the people of the towns of Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

Bleak Numbers Cast Shadows Over County Finances

2012-05-16T04:35:15Z

County Legislators received an update on the County’s fiscal picture in late April from budget and finance personnel. It was bleak, as was to be expected. Afterall the 2012 budget when passed did not balance spending with revenues but instead borrowed extensively ($23million) from our reserve funds. This left the County at the end of 2011 with $7.8million in its fund balance, which is only 1.9 percent of the County’s $411million operating budget. Fund balance is the difference between County assets and liabilities and is not the same as cash. The ideal fund balance is between five and ten percent. Like the fund balance, the County’s cash flow is also much lower than in previous years. We finished 2011 with $29.5million. While cash flow fluctuates daily based on cash outlays and revenues received, cash balances has consistently been lower for the past three years.

The 2012 budget was balanced not only with an enormous reliance on fund balance, but by anticipating Medicaid Mandate Relief from the State. Such aid did not come. This creates a $1million shortfall for the County in 2012.

Instead the State chose to cap their reimbursement to the counties for Medicaid administrative costs, costing Dutchess County an estimated further $145,000. County financial leadership is estimating that the County faces a $40million budget gap for 2013.

Spending continues to rise. County spending in 2011 totaled $435.4million, which was an increase of $7.6million compared to 2010. This includes State-mandated expenses including $41.5million for Medicaid, $38.9million for employee health insurance and pension payments, $1million for preschool special education and early intervention programs (state mandated services all). It also includes $38.9million for the Sheriff and jail costs, and $12.7million in debt service to Dutchess Community College.

Revenues are down. While sales tax increased in 2011 by $1.8 million to $134.3million (largely due to the expiration of the sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear), the first quarter of 2012 showed a decrease of 1.4% compared to the first quarter of 2011.

Unfortunately the County’s fiscal trouble reflects financial distress of too many of its residents. Unemployment was at 7.7% in March. Department of Social Services caseloads are up 61% from five years ago. The County’s real property tax receivables have increased nearly $4.5million in one year. This final number indicates that more property owners are struggling to pay their taxes. We legislators must take note of this startling statistic. In 2010, 1,435 homeowners had their properties foreclosed due to inability to pay mortgages and/or taxes. While this number decreased in 2011 to 969, the underlying message of struggling taxpayers/property owners mustn’t be ignored.

In only a few months, county departments will start planning their budgets for the 2013 budget. This month we legislators continue scrutinizing bonding resolutions. Somehow we all must realize that business as usual can no longer be our mantra.

A Wassaic Slaughterhouse??? Future Use for Taconic DDSO Considered

2012-04-29T00:09:18Z

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 meat production. A closer facility would allow local farmers to better brand their product creating a local niche with a higher demand that could mesh nicely with the region’s restaurant and grocery markets. Not to mention a nearby slaughterhouse can reduce transportation costs to farmers. This could very well lead to a dramatic expansion of farming in Dutchess County with likely new operations in the meat industry.

A mobile slaughterhouse now operates in the Hudson Valley in an attempt to meet farmers’ needs but reliance is arguably difficult due to the constant need for special use-permitting in each town that the mobile slaughterhouse services. The Taconic DDSO site could provide a central location for a permanent docking site for this mobile slaughterhouse, or perhaps a separate facility could be constructed to meet local need as was considered by the 2000 HVLMTF feasibility report. That report determined that it was financially feasible to justify a plant’s construction and that such a plant would return 100% of an estimated $100,000 in equity in its seventh year of operation. The same plan predicted in 2000 that as many as 1,937 beef animals could be available for a new facility to process, plus up to 2,198 hogs, 714 lambs and 100-200 other miscellaneous species animals.

Regardless of whether revived discussions of a community slaughterhouse or its siting at the Taconic DDSO grounds shall come to pass, community consensus is needed for some future use for the property.

Michael N. Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

County’s April Legislative Meeting Has Broad Scope

2012-04-17T15:26:11Z

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 Medicaid and the state pension system won’t be felt on the county level until 2014 or later.

Prior to the meeting legislators heard updates on economic development projects including growing the local food and beverage industry by connecting farms with the Culinary Institute of America as well as the cafeterias of local hospitals and universities.

Board of Health president and Washington resident Dr. Bill Augerson made a presentation to the Health Care Access Partnership for promotion of community health. Presentations were also made to the County Critical Incident Response Team recognizing their ten-year commitment to responding to emergencies. We considered also requests from the Sheriff, District Attorney and County Attorney on various topics related to their respective departments.

All in all, April’s Legislative meeting was telling of the scope and breadth of the role performed by county government regardless of whether this was a legislator’s first meeting or his umpteenth.

Michael N. Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

County Tax Exemption for the Disabled Proposed as Just

2012-04-15T03:12:56Z

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 to property owners below a certain economic threshold owing to the fact of a disability. Each taxing authority sets their own threshold amount based upon an allowable amount set by the State Legislature. Although 11 of the county’s 22 towns have already enacted such tax relief (including Washington and Stanford) and nine of the 16 school districts (including Millbrook and Pine Plains) hitherto Dutchess County as a whole had not done so.

I was approached by a Millbrook resident earlier in the year to advance a county-wide tax exemption. At present three residents of Washington and two in Stanford out of a total of 200 people in the county benefit from this exemption on a town or school-district basis. The local law I am advancing will also provide this benefit to county taxes. It is being introduced this month and will be voted on at our May meeting, and if passed will become available starting in 2013. Residents who qualify for the STAR exemption must choose one or the other, but not both exemptions. Those who qualify for veteran’s exemptions may take both.

Clearly this exemption is in keeping with Aristotle’s purpose for government: “The state is the union of families and villages having for an end a perfect and self-sufficing life, by which we mean a happy and honorable life.”

Michael N. Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

Caps and Exemptions: The Ever-Evolving Tax System

2012-04-05T01:44:22Z

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 income annually receive partial relief from their school property taxes through the STAR program. Similarly veterans, disabled groups and first-responders have also been singled out as groups that should be exempt in part from the universal taxing authority of government. This month, nearby Ulster County’s executive proposed extending tax exemptions to first-time home-buyers.

Tax exemptions have no effect on the tax levy. In other words, the amount collected by government remains the same. What changes is the amount other taxpayers pay to make up the difference for the discounts afforded those in the privileged tax categories. Critics of tax exemptions complain on grounds of justice that exemptions are unfair, representing little more than a form of wealth distribution. Yet, the entire tax system built on tax brackets is designed to charge some people more, and others less.

Similarly our system of allowable deductions is intended to profit those in a special class who fulfill some socially-accepted role as in a student, homeowner, spouse or parent. Until and unless our state and nation moves towards a flat tax, the world of tax brackets, deductions and tax exemptions is the socially accepted norm. To that end I am supportive of current tax exemptions for our seniors and veterans, and at the request of a Millbrook constituent, will soon be advancing a proposal (details to follow) to enact on the county level a property tax exemption to assist low-income property owners who struggle with a disability.

Michael N. Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of the Millbrook in the County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

The Injustice of Legal Plunder

2012-03-23T01:01:21Z

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 I heard from some economically-struggling seniors, I heard more from those dismayed to be forced to pay for someone else’s education. Interestingly the right to public education has become a staple in the NYS Constitution as has expectation of social welfare and labor rights.

Bastiat argues that when law normalizes legal plunder that it erases from our minds the distinction between justice and injustice. He says that when morality and the law contradict that the citizen has the cruel alternative of losing his/her moral sense or losing respect for the law. His challenge to legislators is to make laws respectable.

In recent days I am again hearing the plights of property owners struggling under onerous property tax bills. While the county property tax is smaller than other taxes I wonder renewed how we lawmakers might succeed in restoring respect to the laws and budgets we adopt.

Michael N. Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

2012 To Be A Costly Year for Elections

2012-03-02T05:45:16Z

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 same day. A second proposal is to reduce the number of inspectors mandated at poll sites. Under current state law, every election district must be staffed by four inspectors. This is unnecessary especially as seen in Washington where sixteen paid inspectors congregate in the Millbrook Firehouse where all four election districts meet in the center of town. Presently there is no mechanism in the law in place to reduce that number to the appropriate workload for each specific town.

Third, it’s time the law caught up to the new voter machine technology as mandated by the Help Americans Vote Act. Because the old lever machines would stop working after the 999^th voter showed up to vote, a cap on the number of voters in an election district should be enlarged from the current 1,150 voters to 2,500 (or to 4,000 with local commissioner approval). This change, which the new machines can easily process, will allow the number of election districts to be reduced, which in turn will reduce the number of inspectors who must be paid, as well as related machine deployment, transportation, and training costs.

Every freedom has its cost. Hopefully our elected leaders in Albany will do their part to make voting cheaper for the taxpayer.

Michael N. Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of the Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com. Elections Commissioner Erik Haight contributed to this story.

New Mental Health Funding Diverted

2012-02-16T16:52:28Z

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.

Today, the movement is afoot to defund and downsize government funding of mental health service. The State did it in the early 1990s, and they did so again in 2011 in budget decisions that privatized mental health funding (in progress for completion in 2013) and locally closed Harlem Valley and now Hudson River psychiatric centers. The 2011 State budget also diminishes the powers of counties in delivering local care, with a shift in policy towards privatization. Amid this movement to privatize health care, the county’s vote this month to grow the mental health budget – already twice as high as Westchester who has triple the population – is senseless. It is senseless unless of course one considers that the purpose in accepting the money had little to do with community mental health, but with balancing budgets, settling labor disputes and bolstering law enforcement.

Michael Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

The Door Closes at Hudson River Psychiatric Center

2012-02-09T05:07:04Z

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 much harder for both of us, as it has for the roughly 80 county residents a month whose families must now travel great distances because local care has been severely undermined.

I don’t have a lot of memories of HRPC, but I have a strong memory of when one visit ended. At the end of visitation hours the guards would let us out the iron-thick doors. My mom stood there alone, with tears in her eyes, waving just as she did when I boarded the bus most mornings for school. On one visit a female patient attempted to race out the door. I watched as the guards struggled to hold her back. Mom stayed motionless except for the tears falling and the hand waving. In time she was well enough to come home, and life resumed although never quite the same for any of us.

Today the last of HRPC’s patients have now been transported miles away to the New Jersey border of Rockland County. In the weeks ahead our county will explore ways to spend the $1.875 million to be reinvested in the community. There will be much talk of diversion, safety nets, mobile crisis and other feel-good substitutions for inpatient care – gone will be the close-to-home hospital beds for our sick loved ones.

Now with the closure of HRPC complete, I feel a lot like my eight year-old self watching the door slam hard on the thousands of county residents who like my mom at times struggle in coping with sanity, emotion and life’s challenges. I think also of that nameless lady who tried to resist the closing of the HRPC door so many years ago. How I wish our state politicians would have showed similar courage to resist the systematic abolition of Dutchess County mental health hospital beds. Instead economic egoism and the erosion of compassion in public policy have permanently slammed the door shut.

Wellness on the Western Front

2012-01-26T16:36:23Z

By Western front, I mean Poughkeepsie, and while not all is well, things are looking up. This month, by a 24-1 margin the County Legislature moved initiatives of new County Executive Marc Molinaro forward in crucial areas of economic development and solid waste planning. Contrary to possible inferences, these were not rubber-stamping votes. The Legislature was critical – asking probing questions and performing soul-searching – and the Molinaro administration had to exert effort to work to curry favor, and they did. We proved that the democratic process worked while moving forward important initiatives. This is how I define wellness.

Responding to economic and unemployment angst heard on the campaign trail, the new county executive began our legislative term with a plan to restructure the planning department by adding a deputy in charge of strategic planning and economic development. The goal of this high level (but revenue-neutral) position will be to help regionalize local projects, support small business and grow the economy through planning, coordination and pro-activeness. It would be independent of, but work alongside, current economic entities including the Industrial Development Agency and the Economic Development Council. During our committee deliberations I was among the idea’s detractors.

I questioned philosophically whether government should become involved in job-creation and growing the economy. While acknowledging a perceived voter expectation of government leadership in these realms I questioned whether our role might be better served by staying outside and letting private enterprise correct itself. Practically I also inquired about whether concentrating influence in the county might strip autonomy from local governments. I was afraid that in the interest of “regionalization” that the county might place undue pressures on rural communities to accept development projects that may benefit the region but have the potential to scar and change the community identity that many of us work so hard to preserve. I could visualize the potential clashes between noble but competing values, and I spoke up for what I believe are the core values of the people I represent.

Other legislators were likewise concerned in many areas including whether this might just be a duplication of services like those performed at EDC and IDA. The County Executive and his staff rose to the challenge. They spent considerable time reaching out to legislators, answering questions, giving reassurances, even tweaking the job description to alleviate our concerns. In my case, they assured me that the county will empower local government with tools and resources but will not usurp decision-making authority or supersede local planning departments from shaping their community as they see fit. This reassurance won me over.

We also transferred solid waste planning authority from the Resource Recovery Agency to the County Government, which is expected to streamline costs and efficiency and result in a cleaner environment. Again, the County Executive was out in front addressing the Legislature on the topic, commenting on list-serves and speaking to our respective caucuses on our turf. He was committed not only to securing the necessary 13-votes but to achieving wide-spread buy-in, which despite the at-times adversarial nature of the separate branches he ultimately achieved. With these two key policy changes adopted we can rest assured that here our legislative system worked as it should.

Michael N. Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

Costs and Fairness of Child Support Considered

2012-01-17T04:41:42Z

Separately in recent weeks, Dutchess County has been considering the gigantic cost to house inmates at the county jail, and the increasing costs of indigent counsel at Family Court including the approved proposal to utilize public defenders in family court matters. I married these two issues together in asking jail administrators about the jail census. I learned that approximately one inmate per day at the County jail is there because he (mostly men) failed to pay child support. This was disturbing to learn since county jailing costs are so high due to overcrowding (we pay $6million a year to house out inmates to other counties). Not to mention there seems something archaic about using the county jail as a debtor’s prison. It also seems largely counter-productive to detain someone for non-payment, when the detention prevents them from working to pay down the debt. Presently attorneys are not assigned to poor people in child support matters. With the new public defender model coming to Family Court, I have requested that public defenders look into unpaid child support cases in an attempt to keep county taxpayer costs at the jail from rising further.

The topic got me thinking. In the Eighteenth Century support for children was considered a moral, but not a legal duty. Not so today. In 1975, the U.S. Congress enacted federal-state child support enforcement. Their goals were to reduce childhood poverty and reduce the welfare rolls. Congress assured States that they would be compensated with federal funds under TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) if they aggressively established paternity (goal of 90 percent) and set up systems for child support collection. Congress underscored child support programs as priorities in 1988 and again in 1993. How successful this system meets its goal is up to debate. In 1975, 17 percent of children under 18 lived below the poverty line. In 2009, that number was 20 percent.

At the same time, there are arguments that Child Support Guidelines are actually causing poverty of the non-custodial parent by in essence creating net wealth transfers amounting to unintentional spousal support. Elsewhere child support provisions are blamed for disrupting fathers’ relationships with the children. In particular child support provisions are being blamed for harming the re-entry into society of veterans and recently discharged military.

In 2009, a Veterans Affairs survey to veterans indicated legal assistance for child support as their second (out of 42) unmet needs (affordable child care was number one). The VA identified that often times support payments are set when a veteran is on active duty pay, but never readjusted when he ceases to be on active duty (and thus lower rate of pay). The VA reported a high number of veterans facing garnishment of their paychecks at 65% for unpaid child support. Additionally the interest rate on arrears (9% in New York) has not been adjusted to reflect current time value of money. Clearly there are policy considerations that should be examined beyond the welfare of the child. Let’s hope that in Dutchess County that public defenders or veterans affairs counselors soon take the first step towards reviewing support formulas for fairness.

Michael Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.

Mike's Speech to the Republican Nominating Convention for NYS Assembly 103rd District

2012-01-15T19:02:24Z

January 14, 2012: Pleasant Valley Town Hall

Editor's Note: Although Mike did not receive the nomination for Assemblyman, we reprint his speech here so that the issues and values contained therein may live on.

Welcome! I say welcome because not only do I represent Pleasant Valley in the County Legislature, but Pleasant Valley is also my home.

Two-Hundred and Thirty-Six years ago a Presbyterian Minister from Pleasant Valley by the name of Melancton Smith stepped forward in his service to his town and fellow citizens. He became a delegate to the New York Provincial Congress then considering whether to break away from Great Britain. He helped organized militia, which he named the Dutchess County Rangers, and he served as county sheriff during the war for independence. Afterwards he fought against slavery, became a delegate to the Constitutional Convention as a fierce defender of state and local rights. When it came time for New York to ratify the federal constitution Melancton Smith was a key vote in approving the U.S. Constitution albeit with assurance that the rights of the individuals would be protected. Afterwards, in 1791 Melancton Smith of Pleasant Valley was elected to the New York State Assembly.

I tell you this at the start of my speech where I will ask for your vote to nominate me to represent you in the New York State Assembly, because our shared history, our heritage is part and parcel of who we are. From Red Hook, who will celebrate its 200^th anniversary this year to Wassaic, whose Borden Milk factory was founded 150-years ago last year whose condensed milk proved pivotal to outfitting our troops in the U.S. Civil War we hail from a proud region. We live in historic towns. You and I cherish our towns and the sense of community. We value our neighbors, and our representatives in government must do the same.

When I ran for County Legislature in 2009, I promised the four towns that I would come to represent that in me they would have a local presence. I have delivered. I attend monthly board meetings, participate in community events, I write weekly on substantive issues in our local newspapers and most importantly I bring their issues – the people’s issues – to Poughkeepsie with me. One cannot provide actual representation unless we’re in touch with the people we represent. We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. These are the words of the founder of our party, Abraham Lincoln spoken at Gettysburg in the midst of the U.S. Civil War. We gather here today so that you as elected committee members of the 103^rd AD might represent the people of your respective towns. You must look at each of the three candidates here today and ask which one of us can best meet the needs of your neighbors? Who among us can best be our voice in Albany? Who here has the record and reputation for being fiscally conservative yet socially aware?

As a legislative aide to Assemblyman Joel Miller I learned to excel in constituent service in helping others navigate government red tape. As an attorney I help moms and dads navigate family court. As a director of a nonprofit I help some of the society’s most vulnerable citizens to find a job, volunteer and appreciate their self-worth. As a professor of philosophy and law I am preparing college students for their future success.

Our future is important. Our local municipalities are stretched thin, with budgets that will burst if Albany does not give us mandate relief. Just two nights ago during my monthly report to the Amenia town board a councilwoman told me how their town is suffering under the onerous mandate known as Wick’s Law. This burdensome law is increasing state and local construction costs, delaying projects and adding to municipal debt. We must join almost every other state in the nation in adopting a single contract method by repealing Wicks Law and giving our local governments sorely needed relief.

At the County level, we are being crushed by nine unfunded mandates that together comprise 90%of our budgets. Although worthy causes in themselves, these mandates strip autonomy from local leaders to decide for themselves the needs of our community and how to meet them. It has placed us county legislators with little choice but to either raise taxes or cut the services upon which people have come to rely. As a county legislator I have made the tough choices to cut services and lay off workers while preserving our most essential programs. But the future is grim. Unless Albany can deliver on mandate relief this year Dutchess County’s budget will face a deficit and services must be cut. We need someone in Albany who will take the time to understand these mandates and show leadership in reducing them.

As a first-term county legislator I got behind an election cost-sharing mandate that was threatening to burden our town governments. I studied it in depth, and sponsored legislation that cut the cost charged to ours towns by almost half while providing incentives for further cost reductions.

I studied also the state mandate of Special Education Placement that last year cost Dutchess County taxpayers $7-million to house out kids whose school districts could not provide them with appropriate education. This figure, which mind you is double the annual fee we pay for the Resource Recovery Agency, can be avoided if we get serious about managing the mandates here at home. Wouldn’t it be great if we could ask our county’s twelve school districts to enter into a program of shared services such that each district specialized in offering a different form of specialized special education such that our children with special needs can learn locally and thus reducing county expenses by $7million per year?

Building coalitions locally is important. We are long past the time when we can operate in silos. Now adays we need to transcend boundaries and come together as partners in a collaborative approach. After the county budget cut youth services last year, I became involved in building a coalition focused on youth empowerment in Eastern Dutchess. Comprised of five school districts, nonprofits and parents we now meet monthly to discuss issues facing kids today including drugs and gangs.

Children are our future. After my father died, I went through a rough time. I was fortunate to have the guiding hands of two successive scoutmasters who picked up where my dad left off in teaching me the values of integrity, hard work and perseverance. Today, I give back to youth as an Assistant Scoutmaster helping to build character and community awareness into our future leaders.

I’m told Albany is a corrupt place. Just recently one of our own electeds was convicted of wrongdoing and sentenced to prison. We need someone representing us that strives to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. The Scout Law is the code that I accepted for my life a long time ago. We can’t legislate morality but we sure as well can expect our legislators to be moral.

Special interest is a real threat to our democracy. It used to be the case that government’s power was limited to those policies that provided benefit to all, and not to one or more groups at the expense of others. Somewhere we in New York lost our way, and the laws and even the Constitution of the state have been written to cater to special interest. This has got to change.

We must return to a mindset where governmental role is minimal, and where intervention into the affairs of its citizens is limited to a clear public purpose. When government deviates we need a representative who has the courage to speak up. On the floor of the county legislature I have not been afraid to present a different point of view or vote no when a policy defied logic or interfered with human freedom. In the Assembly I would harness the same courage to speak up for our shared Republican values and advocate for the needs of the people of the 103^rd Assembly District.

Few issues are under attack more in the Democrat-controlled Assembly than the Second Amendment. We saw how in Melancton Smith's time our local and individual liberties were earned and fought for not only by the strength of our words and intellects, but with access to arms. Freedom is an empty concept without the ability to rise up when government becomes tyranical. I attended and fundraised for the National Rifle Association, am a gun-owner, and have facilitated gun safety and shooting sports programs for youth as well as created the annual "Shoot the Shamrock" event for the County Young Republicans, when I served as chairman.

I am hearing from constituents of problems begging for solutions. A councilman from Unionvale wrote me that assisted living for our seniors is at capacity in Dutchess County with long waiting lists, and that the parent company of The Fountains at Millbrook wants to expand to meet this crucial need, but that state licensing regulations are interfering. How is it that state licensing prevents not only our community from meeting the needs of elder populations, but our businesses from growing?

In this stagnant economy we need the State to free up regulations so that businesses can expand and prosper and create the jobs that so many of our neighbors so desperately need.

In this economy there are a lot of needy people out there right now. Somehow people have come to expect government to play an active role in maintaining the steady growth of the economy and providing a variety of welfare programs to those in need. Somehow, we have got to wean people off government assistance, but we cannot do this until society steps up. We build society up by strengthening our churches and nonprofits. It’s been one of my missions to help promote food pantries ever since my family found itself receiving donations from the Saint Vincent De Paul Society at Saint Columba Church following the death of our breadwinner. In 2006, I established the annual Scouting for Food food drive, and it’s a core function of my political campaign to inspire voters not only to come out and vote but to help stock the local food pantries. This week my campaign team distributed over 1,000 donated bags to households in four towns with instructions to fill the bag and bring it to a nearby foodbank. Yesterday morning I received a call from Carol Miller in Hopewell Junction who was inspired by the request such that when she took her filled grocery bag to the pantry that she learned that the pantry serves 500 families per week and has had to turn people away for lack of food. She says she will now make it a routine to donate food.

I have an active campaign team. We have four fundraisers ready to take shape upon receiving the nomination. I also have a strong record of grassroots campaigning. In 2009, I was victorious in defeating a popular and entrenched legislator who was impenetrable for over a quarter of a century including service in the leadership of a Democratic majority. Through hard-work and plenty of door-knocking I helped the Republican party retake the County Legislature. With your help I would like to help the Republican Party retake the New York State Assembly.

I have the experience in campaigning, governing and the community involvement to serve as an effective Assemblyman. My professional life makes me relevant and capable of contributing. I have never been lacking in energy or enthusiasm. In a little while each of you will exercise your duty as committee members to select the person you most want representing you and representing our community. I am ready, willing and able to represent you. But the decision is yours. If you decide not to vote for me, know that I will continue to do my best to represent my constituents in the County Legislature and to that end my ear will always be available to you. Also please know that I will respect the decision of the convention and will not primary your choice of candidate.

Service to the community is an honor. Each of you have stepped forward as electors and I thank you for your service. Should it be your wish for me to represent you on the Republican line I will work hard to secure the seat, and harder to be your voice in Albany and at home in building up the community.

In 2001, following the events of September 11^th that weekend my boyhood home of East Fishkill faced a dilemma. The town had planned to celebrate Community Day that weekend but owing to the somber mood of the nation, nobody knew whether they should cancel. The issue was debated, and then someone came up with a solution. Now more than ever, each of us needed to come together not so much for community, but as in unity. Someone noticed that the word “community” contains the word, “unity.” Out came the scissors. True story. As we move on after today, let us a be a party not only of community, but let us also be a party of unity. Thank you.

Legislative Chairman Outlines 2012 Agenda

2012-01-08T21:04:00Z

At the County Legislature’s opening session in early January we re-elected Rob Rolison as our chairman for the third consecutive year. Chairman Rolison spoke of our policy priorities for the coming year in his acceptance speech. Excerpts are included below:

Solid Waste

“In 2010 I created a Resource Recovery Reform Committee that was designed to investigate ways to improve our recycling rate and reduce the County subsidy from our waste-to-energy facility. Under the leadership of Legislator Jim Miccio (Fishkill) this committee has researched and debated how best to fulfill its mission. Their conversations with waste haulers, solid waste managers, consultants, community leaders, State agencies and regional partners have resulted in a better informed Legislature and public regarding the issues of resource recovery. It is the belief of this Committee that the waste-to-energy facility does provide a vital service to the people of Dutchess County – a more environmentally friendly method to dispose of 100,000 tons of solid waste annually than burying it in a landfill. Thus it should not be shuttered, but perhaps sold. Placed into the hands of private operators the facility might become self-sufficient with an opportunity to expand via private investment. … If the public sector is incapable of doing something smarter and cheaper the private sector should have the chance to take the reins.”

Jail

“The Dutchess County jail continues to exceed capacity on a daily basis. A jail designed for 292 inmates with a population often in excess of 400 has resulted in the dangerous and costly policy of boarding out inmates in other jail facilities around the State. … In the very near future the Jail Study Advisory Committee, chaired by Legislator Ken Roman (Poughkeepsie), will release its report for feedback and in it they move Dutchess County one step closer to hiring the necessary consultants to develop plans to expand and modernize our current jail facility. If the current jail’s footprint is not suitable then a new location must be found to house our inmates. Whether it is a retro-fit of an existing structure or a brand new one, the bottom line is that a bricks and mortar solution is needed to address the issue of overcrowding at the jail.”

Mandate Relief

“We legislators must pledge to work with our new County Executive [Marc Molinaro] and help him create the government infrastructure needed to assist businesses, create jobs and revitalize our economy. We can assist our businesses and families by doing what we have done for the last two years – maintain core County services while holding the line on taxes. … County government does a lot, but it is handcuffed by the State’s inability to deliver unfunded mandate relief. While struggling to provide its own core services, County Government must also administer State required services without adequate funding from the State. The New York State Association of Counties points out that the nine “big” state mandates consume 90% of county property tax levies statewide. This means that counties only have true control over 10% of their levies and often these mandates result in the increase of taxes for local homeowners. This trend must stop and State lawmakers must deliver on their promise of mandate relief.”

Michael Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and the Village of Millbrook in the Dutchess County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.