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Proposed Bradford County budget includes .5-mil tax increase Calls for extra staff at jail
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BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN
STAFF WRITER
TOWANDA — The Bradford County commissioners are proposing a $57.3 million county budget for 2009 which includes a 0.5-mil increase in the county property tax.
The budget includes cuts in services provided by Bradford County Children & Youth Services Department, an increase in nine full-time staff at the Bradford County jail, and a decrease in 18 staff at the Bradford County Manor, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the chairman of the Bradford County commissioners, Mark Smith.
Cuts in the amount of state and federal money provided to the county, along with the increase in staffing at the jail, are among the main reasons for the proposed tax increase, said Joan Sanderson, Bradford County fiscal director.
Bradford County is also facing a problem where the state requires the county to provide services without providing state money to pay for them, which is known as “unfunded mandates,” Smith said.
“The largest contributor to the (Bradford County’s) budget challenges, as in many prior years, is the continuous stream of unfunded mandates from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Smith said in his press release. “The difference between prior years and this year is — it is worse!”
Because the state’s own revenues are “way down” for the current year, it is reducing state funding to the counties, Sanderson said.
For example, the county was notified on Dec. 1 — the day before the proposed county budget was due — that the county would experience a $316,000 cut in state funding this year for its Children & Youth Services Department, Smith said.
And while the state was supposed to pay 85 percent of the salary of the county’s district attorney after the position became full-time, the state is no longer providing that funding, Sanderson said.
“For the first year we (Bradford County) have been left to pay the full-time salary of the district attorney which will cost the taxpayers of Bradford County $154,000,” Smith wrote in his press release.
State funding has also been cut to the county’s Drug & Alcohol Program, Sanderson said.
The Bradford County commissioners will meet on Dec. 22 to vote on adopting the county budget, she said. They will also set the Bradford County property tax rate at that time.
The .5-mil increase in the county property tax would bring in approximately $500,000 in additional revenue to the county, said Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko.
The increase would raise the county property tax rate from 10.61 mils to 11.11 mils, Sanderson said.
If the tax increase is approved, a homeowner with a house assessed at $50,000 would see his annual county property tax bill increase by $25 to $555.50, Sanderson said. In Bradford County, property is assessed at half of its market value.
Jail
The hiring of additional staff at the jail — which will consist of six full-time corrections officers and three full-time sergeants — is needed partly because the county is facing high overtime costs at the prison and because some corrections officers are working 60 to 80 hours a week on a regular basis, Smith said.
This year, the county will pay $150,000 in overtime costs at the jail, Smith noted.
The increase in staff at the jail was also recommended by state Interim Warden Wayne Gavin, who had been serving at the jail earlier this year and who had found the jail to be understaffed, county officials said.
“We are facing tougher regulations, inspections and citations from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections,” Smith said, explaining the need for more full-time staff at the jail. “In the process of inspection performed by state Interim Warden Wayne Gavin it was discovered that the Bradford County Correctional Facility is understaffed for the number of inmates housed. According to state regulations we are obligated to have one officer for every 15 inmates. We do not currently meet that obligation.”
By hiring the additional staff at the jail, the county “will meet the state regulations for a (jail for) our size and population,” Smith said. “By meeting this obligation Bradford County is decreasing its liability by following the regulations. Furthermore we are meeting our obligation to the taxpayers and the workers for running a safe and secure facility,
When a state official such as Gavin recommends that at county hire nine more full-time employees, “you really need to follow it (that recommendation),” said McLinko. McLinko had been opposed to the expansion of the jail, which occurred a few years ago and which McLinko said is the reason why more employees are needed.
The net cost of adding the nine additional jail employees, when taking into account the expected reduction in overtime hours, is $200,000 per year, Sanderson said.
In the Bradford County Children & Youth Services Department, the county is cutting some in-home services and is decreasing some foster-care funding, Smith said.
Tax increase
McLinko said he was opposed to the tax increase and said he would continue to look for ways to cut the budget.
“People cannot afford it (the tax increase),” McLinko said.
He said Bradford County needs to look again at whether it should continue to run its own day care program. The day care program will cost the county $159,865 in taxpayer funds this year, Smith said.
McLinko noted that Bradford County may now be the only county in the state to run its own day care program. If the county got out of the day care business, there would still be plenty of private day care providers in the county and there would still be subsidized day care for people who needed it.
McLinko also said the county should move quickly to rent out beds at its jail to other counties, which could bring in needed revenue. Renting out 10 beds a year at the jail could bring in up to $200,000 a year in revenue, he said.
Increased hours
The county budget also calls for the office staff in the county commissioners’ office and four county maintenance workers to go from a 35-hour work week to a 40-hour work week, Smith said. The increase in hours will cost a total of $29,750 for the coming year, Smith said.
“We are setting an ambitious agenda (in the commissioners’ office) regarding many avenues of county business for 2009 and the added staff time is critical to moving projects and business along in a more aggressive and organized manner,” Smith said. “Furthermore, the office work load (in the commissioners’ office) has increased over the past year.”
“There is never a lack of work for county maintenance workers and we have many structural and routine maintenance issues,” Smith said, explaining the need to have some maintenance workers work additional hours. “These (maintenance issues) are overdue for being addressed, some for a very long time. An increase in hours for these positions will allow us to utilize their time more appropriately and make serious progress on projects for 2009.”
The budget also includes funds to make the salaries in the county’s Department of Information Technology more competitive, Smith said.
“We currently do not pay competitive salaries in the (Information Technology) department and staff training has not been a priority in the past,” Smith said. “This has resulted in the serious issue of staff retention especially in entry level positions. Therefore this budget provides for the first part of a three-year plan to phase in competitive and up-to-date salaries in the department. This plan will allow current employees the opportunity to advance into those positions based on completion of the required trainings. The total cost for the investment in training in the 2009 budget will be $9,500 plus any paid time spent training. This cost will be offset by the decreased need for hiring outside consultants. We have decreased the consultant budget by $5,000 in 2009. In today’s world of constantly changing technology and the expectation of instant and up-to-date information and knowledge this is a department that is critical to the future operation of our county, therefore significant efforts must be made in this department to ensure we are meeting the needs of our time and the future as well.”
Gas lease
The county will also use $200,000 from the county’s $2.4 million gas lease payment from EOG Resources Inc. to pay for capital projects in 2008 and 2009, Smith said.
“With the exception of capital projects, that money will not be used to offset any revenues and expenditures within the 2009 budget or in future budgets,” Smith wrote. “It is a onetime payment that cannot be used to artificially increase budgetary revenue for only a year or two. That would create a situation where at some point in the close future that money would be gone and taxpayers would have to make that difference up with a large tax increase. The money instead will be used to offset taxpayer’s exposure to large capital projects.”
Smith’s press release on the budget and a copy of the budget itself can be viewed at the county’s Web site, www.bradfordcountypa.org. The press release on the Web site is contained in a document titled “Chairman’s Report to the Taxpayers on the State of Bradford County.”
The budget has also been placed on the counter of the Bradford County commissioners’ office to be reviewed by the public.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (57)0 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
The budget includes cuts in services provided by Bradford County Children & Youth Services Department, an increase in nine full-time staff at the Bradford County jail, and a decrease in 18 staff at the Bradford County Manor, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the chairman of the Bradford County commissioners, Mark Smith.
Cuts in the amount of state and federal money provided to the county, along with the increase in staffing at the jail, are among the main reasons for the proposed tax increase, said Joan Sanderson, Bradford County fiscal director.
Bradford County is also facing a problem where the state requires the county to provide services without providing state money to pay for them, which is known as “unfunded mandates,” Smith said.
“The largest contributor to the (Bradford County’s) budget challenges, as in many prior years, is the continuous stream of unfunded mandates from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Smith said in his press release. “The difference between prior years and this year is — it is worse!”
Because the state’s own revenues are “way down” for the current year, it is reducing state funding to the counties, Sanderson said.
For example, the county was notified on Dec. 1 — the day before the proposed county budget was due — that the county would experience a $316,000 cut in state funding this year for its Children & Youth Services Department, Smith said.
And while the state was supposed to pay 85 percent of the salary of the county’s district attorney after the position became full-time, the state is no longer providing that funding, Sanderson said.
“For the first year we (Bradford County) have been left to pay the full-time salary of the district attorney which will cost the taxpayers of Bradford County $154,000,” Smith wrote in his press release.
State funding has also been cut to the county’s Drug & Alcohol Program, Sanderson said.
The Bradford County commissioners will meet on Dec. 22 to vote on adopting the county budget, she said. They will also set the Bradford County property tax rate at that time.
The .5-mil increase in the county property tax would bring in approximately $500,000 in additional revenue to the county, said Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko.
The increase would raise the county property tax rate from 10.61 mils to 11.11 mils, Sanderson said.
If the tax increase is approved, a homeowner with a house assessed at $50,000 would see his annual county property tax bill increase by $25 to $555.50, Sanderson said. In Bradford County, property is assessed at half of its market value.
Jail
The hiring of additional staff at the jail — which will consist of six full-time corrections officers and three full-time sergeants — is needed partly because the county is facing high overtime costs at the prison and because some corrections officers are working 60 to 80 hours a week on a regular basis, Smith said.
This year, the county will pay $150,000 in overtime costs at the jail, Smith noted.
The increase in staff at the jail was also recommended by state Interim Warden Wayne Gavin, who had been serving at the jail earlier this year and who had found the jail to be understaffed, county officials said.
“We are facing tougher regulations, inspections and citations from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections,” Smith said, explaining the need for more full-time staff at the jail. “In the process of inspection performed by state Interim Warden Wayne Gavin it was discovered that the Bradford County Correctional Facility is understaffed for the number of inmates housed. According to state regulations we are obligated to have one officer for every 15 inmates. We do not currently meet that obligation.”
By hiring the additional staff at the jail, the county “will meet the state regulations for a (jail for) our size and population,” Smith said. “By meeting this obligation Bradford County is decreasing its liability by following the regulations. Furthermore we are meeting our obligation to the taxpayers and the workers for running a safe and secure facility,
When a state official such as Gavin recommends that at county hire nine more full-time employees, “you really need to follow it (that recommendation),” said McLinko. McLinko had been opposed to the expansion of the jail, which occurred a few years ago and which McLinko said is the reason why more employees are needed.
The net cost of adding the nine additional jail employees, when taking into account the expected reduction in overtime hours, is $200,000 per year, Sanderson said.
In the Bradford County Children & Youth Services Department, the county is cutting some in-home services and is decreasing some foster-care funding, Smith said.
Tax increase
McLinko said he was opposed to the tax increase and said he would continue to look for ways to cut the budget.
“People cannot afford it (the tax increase),” McLinko said.
He said Bradford County needs to look again at whether it should continue to run its own day care program. The day care program will cost the county $159,865 in taxpayer funds this year, Smith said.
McLinko noted that Bradford County may now be the only county in the state to run its own day care program. If the county got out of the day care business, there would still be plenty of private day care providers in the county and there would still be subsidized day care for people who needed it.
McLinko also said the county should move quickly to rent out beds at its jail to other counties, which could bring in needed revenue. Renting out 10 beds a year at the jail could bring in up to $200,000 a year in revenue, he said.
Increased hours
The county budget also calls for the office staff in the county commissioners’ office and four county maintenance workers to go from a 35-hour work week to a 40-hour work week, Smith said. The increase in hours will cost a total of $29,750 for the coming year, Smith said.
“We are setting an ambitious agenda (in the commissioners’ office) regarding many avenues of county business for 2009 and the added staff time is critical to moving projects and business along in a more aggressive and organized manner,” Smith said. “Furthermore, the office work load (in the commissioners’ office) has increased over the past year.”
“There is never a lack of work for county maintenance workers and we have many structural and routine maintenance issues,” Smith said, explaining the need to have some maintenance workers work additional hours. “These (maintenance issues) are overdue for being addressed, some for a very long time. An increase in hours for these positions will allow us to utilize their time more appropriately and make serious progress on projects for 2009.”
The budget also includes funds to make the salaries in the county’s Department of Information Technology more competitive, Smith said.
“We currently do not pay competitive salaries in the (Information Technology) department and staff training has not been a priority in the past,” Smith said. “This has resulted in the serious issue of staff retention especially in entry level positions. Therefore this budget provides for the first part of a three-year plan to phase in competitive and up-to-date salaries in the department. This plan will allow current employees the opportunity to advance into those positions based on completion of the required trainings. The total cost for the investment in training in the 2009 budget will be $9,500 plus any paid time spent training. This cost will be offset by the decreased need for hiring outside consultants. We have decreased the consultant budget by $5,000 in 2009. In today’s world of constantly changing technology and the expectation of instant and up-to-date information and knowledge this is a department that is critical to the future operation of our county, therefore significant efforts must be made in this department to ensure we are meeting the needs of our time and the future as well.”
Gas lease
The county will also use $200,000 from the county’s $2.4 million gas lease payment from EOG Resources Inc. to pay for capital projects in 2008 and 2009, Smith said.
“With the exception of capital projects, that money will not be used to offset any revenues and expenditures within the 2009 budget or in future budgets,” Smith wrote. “It is a onetime payment that cannot be used to artificially increase budgetary revenue for only a year or two. That would create a situation where at some point in the close future that money would be gone and taxpayers would have to make that difference up with a large tax increase. The money instead will be used to offset taxpayer’s exposure to large capital projects.”
Smith’s press release on the budget and a copy of the budget itself can be viewed at the county’s Web site, www.bradfordcountypa.org. The press release on the Web site is contained in a document titled “Chairman’s Report to the Taxpayers on the State of Bradford County.”
The budget has also been placed on the counter of the Bradford County commissioners’ office to be reviewed by the public.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (57)0 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thedailyreview.com.
Bob wrote on Dec 3, 2008 10:00 AM:
" What happened to the money the jail was going to get by housing additional inmates. How about not spending more money than you have. Lots of taxpayers are doing with less, but do not expect the county to do the same. Cut services to match the revenues. "
curious citizen wrote on Dec 3, 2008 10:06 AM:
" And the commisioners are going to take a voluntary paycut and do away with any unecessary travel (Texas?). Interesting to see that they are increasing hours on people that directly impact them. "
AnanonymousOutrage wrote on Dec 3, 2008 10:11 AM:
" With a 2.4 Million dollar winfall, how could this group of morons not continue the 2% reduction of taxes that Nancy Schrader left us with! It is true that the first thing Mark Smith did when he got into office was have the commissioners office re-carpted, new computers installed and also to have it painted, then painted again because he didn't like the color, then again because he didn't like the color. Why does the Republican party allow these Liberals to run our county into the ground. "
taxpayer wrote on Dec 3, 2008 10:47 AM:
" So Doug McKlinko wants to move quickly and rent out beds at the jail! If he would have agreed to that very thing when Commissioners Lewis and Schrader supported it and he said no last year, the county might not need to raise taxes this time. Oh well, better later than never but at least admit you've done an about face, Mr. McKlinko. "
Phil Stone wrote on Dec 3, 2008 1:15 PM:
" I am surprised to see no mention in all this of perhaps the largest budget breaker so far in 2008. This news has been widely reported in other major newspapers across Pennsylvania, but if there was a story in the Review I missed it. Word is that, due to the ongoing financial meltdown, our Pennsylvania pension funds for former employees at all levels of government, including teachers and county workers and others, have lost a significant portion of their previous value. These pensions are guaranteed to our former public employees and are not permitted by law to be reigned in or reduced. Thus, with the massive losses in the funds, the public will be taxed to make up any deficit, allowing pensions to be paid in FULL. In some instances, with pension fund portfolios not adjusted to current market values and still inflated to so-called "book" value (which is bogus), the true and accurate magnitude of the losses remains unknown even today.
I am confident we have former county employees drawing pensions. I know our school districts here in Bradford County have many former teachers drawing pensions. Yet the pension funds supporting those pension payments are greatly diminished. At some point, and I expect sooner rather than later, the county, and the school districts, will have to tax us to put those pension funds back onto a solid financial footing.
Because the same thing has happened with respect to state government, this matter has received intense media coverage outside Bradford County. Pennsylvania appears to be hardest hit of all the states, because our pension fund investment strategies were the most aggressive of all. Citizens should be prepared for a massive tax hit on account of this. And our county fathers need to be aware and prepared.
Finally and related, if your school district has its reserve funds invested other than in insured accounts, look out!! This decision re how to invest was made by the individual school boards. Different boards in our county might have made different decisions. But it has surprised me not to see a story relating to this for each of our school districts in the county. As with the pension money invested in toxic funds, so also with our school money unless the individual school board choose wisely to put the money into government insured investments.
All of the above is local fallout from the global financial meltdown. I am surprised it has not received more intense scrutiny from our local media. The loss potential is very large, and the cost for taxpayers to make up any losses will be significant. EDITOR'S NOTE: The Review has published news reports and commentary about the pension issue. "
I am confident we have former county employees drawing pensions. I know our school districts here in Bradford County have many former teachers drawing pensions. Yet the pension funds supporting those pension payments are greatly diminished. At some point, and I expect sooner rather than later, the county, and the school districts, will have to tax us to put those pension funds back onto a solid financial footing.
Because the same thing has happened with respect to state government, this matter has received intense media coverage outside Bradford County. Pennsylvania appears to be hardest hit of all the states, because our pension fund investment strategies were the most aggressive of all. Citizens should be prepared for a massive tax hit on account of this. And our county fathers need to be aware and prepared.
Finally and related, if your school district has its reserve funds invested other than in insured accounts, look out!! This decision re how to invest was made by the individual school boards. Different boards in our county might have made different decisions. But it has surprised me not to see a story relating to this for each of our school districts in the county. As with the pension money invested in toxic funds, so also with our school money unless the individual school board choose wisely to put the money into government insured investments.
All of the above is local fallout from the global financial meltdown. I am surprised it has not received more intense scrutiny from our local media. The loss potential is very large, and the cost for taxpayers to make up any losses will be significant. EDITOR'S NOTE: The Review has published news reports and commentary about the pension issue. "
Mark Smith County Commissioner wrote on Dec 3, 2008 2:54 PM:
" Well, I knew todays article would perpetuate some comments here so I have been keeping an eye out this morning. Anytime a person suggests a tax increase I know that there is a certain amount of backlash. The only thing that I can do is explain what we are doing and how we are approaching the coming year. So I will answer as many questions and clear up any misleading information anywhere I can including on here...so here goees for this round....
Bob,
The county has no revenue from renting out jail space. The previous Board of Commissioners did not engage in renting out space. We are working on that option and I have reviewed several agreements and they have been sent to the county solicitor for a review. There are legal liability issues with doing it. It sounds simple but the last thing you would want is to end up named in any litigation for some other county's inmate. You also have to consdier we had to ensure our budget could sustain renting out space. It's not like you get paid up front for renting out space for the year. You get paid as you do it, therfore you do not have cashflow from it that can reduce your budget. You need to budget for the added expenses for doing that up front. We have that flexability in this budget with the food for instance. It is just a common sense budget reality.
Curious Citizen,
We do not have any uneccessary travel planned and the budget for 2009 in that regard is quite tight. That said, I think we did do the right thing in going to Texas and it has benefited many residents and we have been able to answer questions and we also provided a public information meeting in which we had over 600 residents attend and benefit from. So I disagree with you on that point. The increase in hours, as I stated in my report, available on the county website, is because we are going to be much more busy getting things done this year. So yes the increase in staff in the Commissioners Office will benefit this office, thats the point. I can only assure you it is not wasted time. We have things to get done that have been neglected for years. In terms of maintenance workers, THEY NEED the hours more than any department in the county. We have major infrastructure issues to address that have also been neglected for years. I know it easier politically to not do anything and not spend any money at all. But it only costs you more in the long run to neglect things and thats been done.Things will not be neglected in my term here. I am committed to doing the things that others left behind out of political convenience. I can only hope that people respect that point of view in the long run. The increase in hours is a benefit to the county not me. I could work part time, leave the staff at 35 hours, do absolutely nothing, get paid and get away with it. If that is what you want than I am definately not your guy. The only thing I can say on the pay issue is that I have worked hard for it this year and I will in the next. Any decrease in one elected officials pay must also be done in all the others, that is a law. So even that is simple to say but not simple to do.
AnonymousOutrage,
It is certainly easy to call people names when you post anonymously on a website. I am surprised the review editor would post name calling like that. But anway, you can't use the 2.4 million for budgeting in the general fund. That is just a bad financial move. We did use $200,000 of it for the capitol projects fund which is consistent with using that money for the long term good of the county. It is not a constant source of revenue. As much as I like Nancy Schrader she did not leave you with a 2% decrease. Last years decrease in taxes was .0019% of the average property owners tax bill, which is .02 mills. No, it is not true that I had my office recarpeted but we did budget to get many offices done this year. It is just basic maintenance. Although I absolutely had the computer situation addressed. Nancy and Janet shared a computer, that computer had to be replaced anyway for the new accounting software. The office staff also needed to be upgraded and they were already budgeted for because of the new accounting software. All I did was say lets get it all in place now instead of 3 months into the year. This has allowed us to do many good things and get work done and shared in a consistent manner. It wasn't really efficent to have a secretary working on a Windows 98 computer sitting there waitng for pages to load, that is a waste of time. The other new technology in the Commissioners Office was purchased from fees aquired in the Registers and Recorders office and that fund is used to purchase technical items. A request is submitted to Shirley Rockefeller and her Committee then votes on the purchases, it is not tax dollars. I did a lot of clean up. Including painting of which I paid for the paint. It cost me $62.00. I asked maintenance for two more overhead lights to be installed and I had housekeeping shampoo the carpets through out the office. We also cleaned out the office and any garbage was thrown away, literllay 55 gallon trash cans that were filled and taken away.
I believe we should keep things clean and up-to-date and that is just part of my belief that our environment should be a reflection of how an office does its business.
I think you would find it comforting though to find out that I do have a desk from the 1950's, and my chair was the previous Coroner's chair from Gene Farr. I cleaned, literally, gunk and dirt off my conference table chairs, this desk and all that kind of stuff myself.
All of this fits within the confines of what I campianged on and so does this next years agenda. I came in to see things improved, moved forward and run in a more up-to-date fasion and do it a responsible common sense way. I think that is happenning and progress in 2008 is proof of that. On a lot of the issues I am not sure how much more into the ground you could have got from where we were in January. People here have worked hard and put a lot of themselves and pride into thier work. I am proud to be a part of what we are accomplishing. "
Bob,
The county has no revenue from renting out jail space. The previous Board of Commissioners did not engage in renting out space. We are working on that option and I have reviewed several agreements and they have been sent to the county solicitor for a review. There are legal liability issues with doing it. It sounds simple but the last thing you would want is to end up named in any litigation for some other county's inmate. You also have to consdier we had to ensure our budget could sustain renting out space. It's not like you get paid up front for renting out space for the year. You get paid as you do it, therfore you do not have cashflow from it that can reduce your budget. You need to budget for the added expenses for doing that up front. We have that flexability in this budget with the food for instance. It is just a common sense budget reality.
Curious Citizen,
We do not have any uneccessary travel planned and the budget for 2009 in that regard is quite tight. That said, I think we did do the right thing in going to Texas and it has benefited many residents and we have been able to answer questions and we also provided a public information meeting in which we had over 600 residents attend and benefit from. So I disagree with you on that point. The increase in hours, as I stated in my report, available on the county website, is because we are going to be much more busy getting things done this year. So yes the increase in staff in the Commissioners Office will benefit this office, thats the point. I can only assure you it is not wasted time. We have things to get done that have been neglected for years. In terms of maintenance workers, THEY NEED the hours more than any department in the county. We have major infrastructure issues to address that have also been neglected for years. I know it easier politically to not do anything and not spend any money at all. But it only costs you more in the long run to neglect things and thats been done.Things will not be neglected in my term here. I am committed to doing the things that others left behind out of political convenience. I can only hope that people respect that point of view in the long run. The increase in hours is a benefit to the county not me. I could work part time, leave the staff at 35 hours, do absolutely nothing, get paid and get away with it. If that is what you want than I am definately not your guy. The only thing I can say on the pay issue is that I have worked hard for it this year and I will in the next. Any decrease in one elected officials pay must also be done in all the others, that is a law. So even that is simple to say but not simple to do.
AnonymousOutrage,
It is certainly easy to call people names when you post anonymously on a website. I am surprised the review editor would post name calling like that. But anway, you can't use the 2.4 million for budgeting in the general fund. That is just a bad financial move. We did use $200,000 of it for the capitol projects fund which is consistent with using that money for the long term good of the county. It is not a constant source of revenue. As much as I like Nancy Schrader she did not leave you with a 2% decrease. Last years decrease in taxes was .0019% of the average property owners tax bill, which is .02 mills. No, it is not true that I had my office recarpeted but we did budget to get many offices done this year. It is just basic maintenance. Although I absolutely had the computer situation addressed. Nancy and Janet shared a computer, that computer had to be replaced anyway for the new accounting software. The office staff also needed to be upgraded and they were already budgeted for because of the new accounting software. All I did was say lets get it all in place now instead of 3 months into the year. This has allowed us to do many good things and get work done and shared in a consistent manner. It wasn't really efficent to have a secretary working on a Windows 98 computer sitting there waitng for pages to load, that is a waste of time. The other new technology in the Commissioners Office was purchased from fees aquired in the Registers and Recorders office and that fund is used to purchase technical items. A request is submitted to Shirley Rockefeller and her Committee then votes on the purchases, it is not tax dollars. I did a lot of clean up. Including painting of which I paid for the paint. It cost me $62.00. I asked maintenance for two more overhead lights to be installed and I had housekeeping shampoo the carpets through out the office. We also cleaned out the office and any garbage was thrown away, literllay 55 gallon trash cans that were filled and taken away.
I believe we should keep things clean and up-to-date and that is just part of my belief that our environment should be a reflection of how an office does its business.
I think you would find it comforting though to find out that I do have a desk from the 1950's, and my chair was the previous Coroner's chair from Gene Farr. I cleaned, literally, gunk and dirt off my conference table chairs, this desk and all that kind of stuff myself.
All of this fits within the confines of what I campianged on and so does this next years agenda. I came in to see things improved, moved forward and run in a more up-to-date fasion and do it a responsible common sense way. I think that is happenning and progress in 2008 is proof of that. On a lot of the issues I am not sure how much more into the ground you could have got from where we were in January. People here have worked hard and put a lot of themselves and pride into thier work. I am proud to be a part of what we are accomplishing. "
Gorbie wrote on Dec 3, 2008 8:03 PM:
" Well done Mr Smith, well done. I don't know what office you plan to groom yourself for in the near future, but as far as spin is concerned you would do well. I just hope all these improvements you fan yourself with are shared across the board in all areas especially the high volume and stress areas, and also maintenance is also done not only by those with a ladders.
The Courthouse seems to be incurring quite a bill so folks keep track of the
Bradford County Budget for 2009, or
" Budget Worksheet Report", www.bradfordcountypa.org, it'll be good for some kind of accountability later or a chuckle. We'll be watching Mr. Smith, we'll be watching.
P.S. I hope your response to the comments was on your lunch hour, your rebuttle had to take at least 45 minutes. "
The Courthouse seems to be incurring quite a bill so folks keep track of the
Bradford County Budget for 2009, or
" Budget Worksheet Report", www.bradfordcountypa.org, it'll be good for some kind of accountability later or a chuckle. We'll be watching Mr. Smith, we'll be watching.
P.S. I hope your response to the comments was on your lunch hour, your rebuttle had to take at least 45 minutes. "
Jose wrote on Dec 3, 2008 8:13 PM:
" Jeremy hit the nail right on the head. I am glad someone has that memory other than me. Too many politicians get away with inciting the taxpayers on an issue for their short term gain of getting elected or re-elected while costing the taxpayers millions in the long run. That's exactly what McNett and Horton did on the jail issue and I am so glad someone else remembers it too!! It's exactly what McLinko tried to do more recently also. "
Adam wrote on Dec 4, 2008 12:59 AM:
" Mark, Congrats on getting the budget done. I know that the budget causes great controversy and no matter what you do not everyone will be satisfied. I know that the decisions that you and the other commisioners have made were made in the the best interest of the county. My first question is what are the capitol projects that you keep referring to not only on here but in your report as well? The second is are you, John, and Doug planning on the possible royalities that may come from the gas lease that was signed? "
Bob wrote on Dec 4, 2008 3:21 AM:
" What I have not seen much discussion about is the county daycare system and how much money is being lost. McLinko touched on it briefly. If the county got rid of the daycare system they would save hundreds of thousands of dollars. They could save money by selling the property they own and by eliminating unneccesary and overpaid employees. There is plenty of private daycares in the county that could absorb the children and employees. Many are willing to expand in order to take these children in. Children would not lose their subsidy and more children would be able to get assistance instead of being put on a waiting list. No child would be without the care they need. Also, another note, why do people get in such a tiff over such a small tax increase? If you can't afford the $25 dollar increase then you shouldn't be allowed to own your house! "
Here we go wrote on Dec 4, 2008 6:49 AM:
" Mark, again, I don't care on your reasons for addressing issues on the newspaper's Web site. It's showboating -- nothing more ... nothing less. I'm sure you'll jump at the chance to defend yourself about this. "
Howell wrote on Dec 4, 2008 6:56 AM:
" I read what Mr. Stone wrote here yesterday. Then I saw this article this morning:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122832139322576023.html
These kinds of losses are very large in these funds that were supposed to be safe. I hope the taxpayers do not get hit too hard, but it is a worry. I couldn't find the stories about how our various Bradford County school district funds and our county funds are doing, for pensions and stuff like that I mean. "
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122832139322576023.html
These kinds of losses are very large in these funds that were supposed to be safe. I hope the taxpayers do not get hit too hard, but it is a worry. I couldn't find the stories about how our various Bradford County school district funds and our county funds are doing, for pensions and stuff like that I mean. "
Mark Smith County Commissioner wrote on Dec 4, 2008 7:53 AM:
" Gorbie,
If you did't call it "spin" it would have been much more a of a compliment..lol. But hey, I am just trying to explain what is going on and why we are doing what we are doing. I can at least hope people would see the value in the level of communication to the public I am attempting to engage in from the Commissioners Office. The courthouse does incurr quite a bill. It is a huge building built in 1897. It doesn't help when major issues are ignored for decades. They only serve to cost more money and there's proof of that across the county. I am not sure what you mean by "shared across high volume stress areas" but I did layout what we are working on for the coming year.
I don't get a defined lunch hour, although I do try to eat around 12ish. This is not really a job where you punch a clock. Monday I worked til' 9PM, Tuesday night I had a Conservation District dinner meeting fro Roger Madigan and ended up back at the courthouse til' 9 PM again talking to James from the Review and going over the budet questions with him and last night I was in Borough Council meeting regrading 911 readdressing and got home 8:30. Gorbie all I can say is I am working hard. If you don't believe it, I don't know what to tell ya.
Adam,
Capitol projects are typically defined as those projects that have a long term impact on the county and are a significant finanacial investment. I included what those are specicially in my report. It is tough to explain. Bradford County years ago did a smart thing and set up a capitol reserve fund. The capitol reserve fund is seperate from the "general fund" of the taxpayers money. It is a pool of money placed in interest bearing accounts. Every year the taxpayers donate 100,000 dollars to the capitol projects fund. This limits the taxpayer from being exposed to paying for every large costly projects with a tax increase. This year we used $200,000 of the 2.4 million to put into that fund. We covered both 2008's donation and 2009. This allowed us to shave $200,000 off our budget shortfall in the taxpayers general fund which was a big help. Tha equate to another .2 mills of your tax bill.. i hope taht helps explain it. "
If you did't call it "spin" it would have been much more a of a compliment..lol. But hey, I am just trying to explain what is going on and why we are doing what we are doing. I can at least hope people would see the value in the level of communication to the public I am attempting to engage in from the Commissioners Office. The courthouse does incurr quite a bill. It is a huge building built in 1897. It doesn't help when major issues are ignored for decades. They only serve to cost more money and there's proof of that across the county. I am not sure what you mean by "shared across high volume stress areas" but I did layout what we are working on for the coming year.
I don't get a defined lunch hour, although I do try to eat around 12ish. This is not really a job where you punch a clock. Monday I worked til' 9PM, Tuesday night I had a Conservation District dinner meeting fro Roger Madigan and ended up back at the courthouse til' 9 PM again talking to James from the Review and going over the budet questions with him and last night I was in Borough Council meeting regrading 911 readdressing and got home 8:30. Gorbie all I can say is I am working hard. If you don't believe it, I don't know what to tell ya.
Adam,
Capitol projects are typically defined as those projects that have a long term impact on the county and are a significant finanacial investment. I included what those are specicially in my report. It is tough to explain. Bradford County years ago did a smart thing and set up a capitol reserve fund. The capitol reserve fund is seperate from the "general fund" of the taxpayers money. It is a pool of money placed in interest bearing accounts. Every year the taxpayers donate 100,000 dollars to the capitol projects fund. This limits the taxpayer from being exposed to paying for every large costly projects with a tax increase. This year we used $200,000 of the 2.4 million to put into that fund. We covered both 2008's donation and 2009. This allowed us to shave $200,000 off our budget shortfall in the taxpayers general fund which was a big help. Tha equate to another .2 mills of your tax bill.. i hope taht helps explain it. "
Scott wrote on Dec 4, 2008 10:10 AM:
" To Gorbie, Why should Mr. Smith use his own time to answer unsubstantiated inflamatory charges from an obviously uninformed citizen? Part of his job, though maybe not spelled out in the job description, should be to enlighten ignorant citizens, of which, given the responses to this article posted so far, there is apparently no shortage in Bradford County. "
GOP wrote on Dec 4, 2008 12:20 PM:
" Give it up , Mark. You are a Democrat, and as such are poison to most of the readers of this space. No matter how good a job you do, no matter how much transparency you try to bring to the workings of your office, no matter how much more dedicated and effective you are in comparison to past commisioners - you cannot win. Even if they do agree with you, they won't ever admit it. I might be a Republican, but I can bring myself to recognize effective leadership when I see it. "
Adam wrote on Dec 4, 2008 1:11 PM:
" Mark,
Thanks for repsonding back ot my comment. I think I understand the capitol reserve fund and the general fund. I can understand if your head starts spinning at times. lol. Please forgive me but I do have another question. I am sorry but it is in my nature to be inquisitive. If $200,000 of the $2.4 milliion went into the capitol reserve fund, does that mean the reamaining $2.2 million went into the general fund? "
Thanks for repsonding back ot my comment. I think I understand the capitol reserve fund and the general fund. I can understand if your head starts spinning at times. lol. Please forgive me but I do have another question. I am sorry but it is in my nature to be inquisitive. If $200,000 of the $2.4 milliion went into the capitol reserve fund, does that mean the reamaining $2.2 million went into the general fund? "
Mark Smith County Commissioner wrote on Dec 4, 2008 5:11 PM:
" Adam,
I appreciate the inquisitive questions. I like to be able to explain these things. In fact following todays Commissioners meeting, full of fun, we had a meeting with the treasuruer and our fiscal director about the money and how to handle the investment. The money was placed into the capitol reserve fund until we decided how to invest it. We will be placing $2 Million into a CD. The CD will mature in 6 months. In that 6 months the county will earn $32, 500. We will continue this process reinvesting in 6 month CD's to earn money for the capitol projects fund. The money we earn off of the $2 million will be used to offset the yearly donation that the taxpayers put into the general fund which is what affects their tax dollars. In the next three years of my service here we will earn approx. $195,000. Following through on this will benefit the taxpayers on a repetative basis. Like I said $200,000 will stay in the capitol projects fund right now. And we are doing nothing with $250,000 because there is an issue with the state having some sort of mineral rights at Sunfish that we are looking into resolving.
You know, this a one shot deal to do something right for our future generations and the investment we can finally make into our long term infrastructure. Despite the criticism I am taking for not supporting using this money to offset any tax increase it is the right decision for today and tommorow and I am committed to it. I hope this makes sense. It does get confusing.
Thanks,
Mark "
I appreciate the inquisitive questions. I like to be able to explain these things. In fact following todays Commissioners meeting, full of fun, we had a meeting with the treasuruer and our fiscal director about the money and how to handle the investment. The money was placed into the capitol reserve fund until we decided how to invest it. We will be placing $2 Million into a CD. The CD will mature in 6 months. In that 6 months the county will earn $32, 500. We will continue this process reinvesting in 6 month CD's to earn money for the capitol projects fund. The money we earn off of the $2 million will be used to offset the yearly donation that the taxpayers put into the general fund which is what affects their tax dollars. In the next three years of my service here we will earn approx. $195,000. Following through on this will benefit the taxpayers on a repetative basis. Like I said $200,000 will stay in the capitol projects fund right now. And we are doing nothing with $250,000 because there is an issue with the state having some sort of mineral rights at Sunfish that we are looking into resolving.
You know, this a one shot deal to do something right for our future generations and the investment we can finally make into our long term infrastructure. Despite the criticism I am taking for not supporting using this money to offset any tax increase it is the right decision for today and tommorow and I am committed to it. I hope this makes sense. It does get confusing.
Thanks,
Mark "
Brandon P. wrote on Dec 4, 2008 5:52 PM:
" Adam, You need to be asking about the Fund Balance. Another fund which very few tax payers know about and we rarely hear mention of. I was told it held close to 3 million dollars back in January. Wonder what it
holds now or where it all went. "
holds now or where it all went. "
vickie black wrote on Dec 4, 2008 5:57 PM:
" My gosh, money must be vanishing somewhere! Not only is there the gas lease money but don't forget the couple hundred thousand from timber sales in the county parks. "
Here we go ... wrote on Dec 5, 2008 6:50 AM:
" SHOWBOATINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Why do you think Doug nearly didn't get elected.
And, Adam, how do you know it's actually Comm. Mark you're writing back and forth to???
Both ... so naive. "
Why do you think Doug nearly didn't get elected.
And, Adam, how do you know it's actually Comm. Mark you're writing back and forth to???
Both ... so naive. "
Mark Smith County Commissioner wrote on Dec 5, 2008 7:25 AM:
" Brandon,
You're right about the fund balance. We have a healthy fund balance right now but we are going to have to use a majority now to cover the cuts in state funding. We have to consider the .5 mill increase to be responsible for next year.
Vickie,
When you start losing state funding of 316,000 the day before the budget comes out you'll understand how hard it is to budget for a $57,000,000 operation. However, you are not informed correctly on the gas money or the parks money. It is right where it belongs and is being used as I stated so many times before. I talked about the gas money in this articleabove........
" The county will also use $200,000 from the county’s $2.4 million gas lease payment from EOG Resources Inc. to pay for capital projects in 2008 and 2009, Smith said."
“With the exception of capital projects, that money will not be used to offset any revenues and expenditures within the 2009 budget or in future budgets,” Smith wrote. “It is a onetime payment that cannot be used to artificially increase budgetary revenue for only a year or two. That would create a situation where at some point in the close future that money would be gone and taxpayers would have to make that difference up with a large tax increase. The money instead will be used to offset taxpayer’s exposure to large capital projects.”
Timber money will be used to pay for the park improvements and the parks master plan.
Thanks,
Mark "
You're right about the fund balance. We have a healthy fund balance right now but we are going to have to use a majority now to cover the cuts in state funding. We have to consider the .5 mill increase to be responsible for next year.
Vickie,
When you start losing state funding of 316,000 the day before the budget comes out you'll understand how hard it is to budget for a $57,000,000 operation. However, you are not informed correctly on the gas money or the parks money. It is right where it belongs and is being used as I stated so many times before. I talked about the gas money in this articleabove........
" The county will also use $200,000 from the county’s $2.4 million gas lease payment from EOG Resources Inc. to pay for capital projects in 2008 and 2009, Smith said."
“With the exception of capital projects, that money will not be used to offset any revenues and expenditures within the 2009 budget or in future budgets,” Smith wrote. “It is a onetime payment that cannot be used to artificially increase budgetary revenue for only a year or two. That would create a situation where at some point in the close future that money would be gone and taxpayers would have to make that difference up with a large tax increase. The money instead will be used to offset taxpayer’s exposure to large capital projects.”
Timber money will be used to pay for the park improvements and the parks master plan.
Thanks,
Mark "
Adam wrote on Dec 5, 2008 4:34 PM:
" Mark,
Thank you for the update and please beleive me when I say that I do think that you are making some ery tough decisions with the best interest of the county's future in mind. I am not in a position to question any type of authority or get into a logistical debate about how you spend the counties money. Please know that I am not trying to attack you like some others that post here. I am just trying to understand the process in which this money will be handled and how it is going to affect the employees of the county if the economy continues to go in the direction that it is going. I am concerned that, with another cut to human services of approximately $100 milliion, people are going to get laid off at human services and they are overworked at fully staffed. Would this money be able to actually save people's jobs when it comes right down to it? "
Thank you for the update and please beleive me when I say that I do think that you are making some ery tough decisions with the best interest of the county's future in mind. I am not in a position to question any type of authority or get into a logistical debate about how you spend the counties money. Please know that I am not trying to attack you like some others that post here. I am just trying to understand the process in which this money will be handled and how it is going to affect the employees of the county if the economy continues to go in the direction that it is going. I am concerned that, with another cut to human services of approximately $100 milliion, people are going to get laid off at human services and they are overworked at fully staffed. Would this money be able to actually save people's jobs when it comes right down to it? "
Brandon P. wrote on Dec 6, 2008 3:51 PM:
" Vickie, don't be misled too easily, remember that all the money in the fund balance earns interest as well. So, I figure if what the commissioners told us last year is true, then there was over 3 million in there at that time, add to that the 2.4 million lease money plus, the timber money is earning interest for now until such time as they start to spend it on park improvements. That adds up to quite a hefty nest egg if you ask me. Rainy Day fund? I can't think of a better rainy day to use some of it other than to avert a tax increase. "
Gorbie wrote on Dec 6, 2008 4:30 PM:
" To Mr Smith: I will humble myself, my sarcastic tone usually goes unanswered, I understand there is a lot of discussion of the county's money issues retorted by many and I do understand that the commissioner's job is 24/7. It seems waste is pretty previlent and someone has to make some difficult decisions, it's hard to please all, so achieving balance is a complicated thing, all of a sudden everybody's an accountant. BUT ! speculating out loud right in front of the citizens of our county makes a lot of people nervous, ergo backlash will ensue. Just keep on informing the public well, ignorant and not so. Thanks to all the Commissioners hard work.
To Scott: Hey Scotty, Don't you worry he'll be just fine. Big Bradford County hug to ya honey. "
To Scott: Hey Scotty, Don't you worry he'll be just fine. Big Bradford County hug to ya honey. "
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Jeremy wrote on Dec 3, 2008 9:42 AM: