{"id":37926,"date":"2024-12-16T15:05:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T20:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=37926"},"modified":"2024-12-16T15:05:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T20:05:07","slug":"washington-county-faces-budget-strains-amid-state-mandates-and-rising-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2024\/12\/washington-county-faces-budget-strains-amid-state-mandates-and-rising-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington County Faces Budget Strains Amid State Mandates and Rising Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Left to right are county Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Henke, county Administrator Melissa R. Fitch, ARCC President and CEO Tricia Rogers and county Budget Officer Brian R. Campbell.
Courtesy Paul Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Paul Post<\/p>\n

A section of unused Washington County jail must be kept open and staffed, diverting funds from much-needed programs and services.<\/p>\n

More attorneys are required, at considerable expense, because of new bail reform policies.<\/p>\n

Money is still being spent on Great Meadow Correctional Facility upgrades despite the prison\u2019s Nov. 6 closing, which eliminated more than 400 jobs, possibly triggering a significant drop in sales tax revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of regulations that come down from the state somehow cost us money,\u201d county Administrator Melissa R. Fitch said. \u201cThe most frustrating part of this job is that we don\u2019t have control of a lot of things we wish we did as far as spending goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitch, Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Henke, of Argyle, and Budget Officer Brian R. Campbell, of Hebron, discussed these and other issues with local business leaders during a recent \u201cWashington County Outlook\u201d presentation hosted by Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce at Sandy Hill Arts Center in Hudson Falls.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>The county recently adopted a $141 million budget for 2025, up $9 million from this year\u2019s spending plan. A 2.43 percent property tax increase and $3.85 million worth of fund balance was needed to balance the budget, which has grown by $41 million since 2015. Campbell said 90 percent of expenses are a direct result of various state mandates and rising health insurance and pension costs, giving county officials little room to decide how remaining funds can be allocated for services to benefit local residents.Campbell said he\u2019s particularly concerned about rapidly increased Department of Social Services spending, for both financial and societal reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen our expense for DSS go from $19 million in 2020 to $31 million in 2025,\u201d he said. \u201cTo me that\u2019s a ridiculous number for a rural county made up of independent people. I\u2019m not happy with that at all. Every time you increase by $10 million, you put $2.5 million onto your own taxpayers. Why do we enable people instead of just assisting them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Henke said bail reform, which took effect Jan. 1, 2020, has been especially troublesome fiscally and with regard to public safety. The policy has led to a substantial reduction in jail incarceration, driven by a decline in pre-trial admissions for low-level and nonviolent charges such as stalking, assault without serious injury, burglary, many drug offenses and some categories of arson and robbery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhole sections of the jail aren\u2019t used because obviously with bail reform we aren\u2019t putting people in jail any more,\u201d Henke said. \u201cThey\u2019re arrested and released because it\u2019s not a violent crime. We\u2019ve gone to the state and said, \u2018Hey can we close this one whole pod? We don\u2019t need it.\u2019 They\u2019ve said, \u2018No you have to keep it open and keep a certain number of staff on.\u2019 So we\u2019ve got correction officers over there guarding an empty pod.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just money down a rat hole that we could do good things with,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t because of state mandates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell said, \u201cThe way the state sees it, incarceration and slavery are the same thing. It\u2019s going to take a lot of elections to change things. We need to swing the pendulum back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitch said the state Department of Corrections stonewalled county officials who sought reasons for the Great Meadow prison closure. The department told the county to do an economic impact study, but \u201cthe decision had already been made,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just another hoop we had to go through for them,\u201d Fitch said.<\/p>\n

Fitch said county officials also sought cooperation from the state to help prison employees find new jobs locally, to keep money in Washington County. But the department tried to \u201cstrong arm\u201d prison workers into taking transfers, rather than finding alternative employment, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t care if it was a three- or six-hour drive,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was frustrating because we wanted to keep them in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitch said previously-approved capital projects at Great Meadow are continuing despite the facility\u2019s closure.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now there\u2019s no plan (for its reuse),\u201d Henke said. \u201cI don\u2019t see anything happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

On another front, the county obtained $30 million in sales tax revenue this year, or 3 percent of the roughly $1 billion worth of countywide sales activity. Campbell said this is a somewhat surprising figure for a mostly rural county with limited retail centers. But an increasingly large amount of sales activity now comes from online shopping, a trend accelerated by the corona virus pandemic that kept people home.<\/p>\n

Early this year, Laura Oswald filled a newly-created position as director of economic development, planning and tourism.While small in comparison to Saratoga and Warren counties, Washington County tourism is on the rise and generates an estimated $7.5 million in occupancy tax revenue.<\/p>\n

Oswald said the county recently won two statewide tourism awards and that plans are ramping up for the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary in 2026, and related Revolutionary War observances. \u201cWe have a lot of history in this area,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of that activity happened in Washington County and we want people to know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henke said tourism data is somewhat difficult to track because Washington County has few overnight lodging establishments, and no well-known brand name motels or hotels in particular.But he said many people, including out-of-state visitors, are attracted to some of the county\u2019s specialty food stores and include dining and retail shopping in such trips.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s all kinds of ancillary stuff like that,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople are coming here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, the local economy benefits from people who own seasonal second homes in Washington County because of its proximity to ski centers in nearby Vermont and Warren County, he said.Washington County Fair is the state\u2019s third largest county fair and agritourism plays a major role, too, generating large numbers of visits to apple orchards, maple syrup producers and special events such as sheep and goat farm tours.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started working for the county 12 years ago, I remember conversations between the chairman at the time and supervisors; really there were some who didn\u2019t think Washington County had any tourism and would never have tourism and here we are,\u201d Fitch said. \u201cIt\u2019s growing. You can see the ads Laura has worked hard to create with Black Dog Designs. It makes you pretty proud of the area where you live.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Post A section of unused Washington County jail must be kept open and staffed, diverting funds from much-needed programs and services. More attorneys are required, at considerable expense, because of new bail reform policies. Money is still being spent on Great Meadow Correctional Facility upgrades despite the prison\u2019s Nov. 6 closing, which eliminated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":37927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nWashington County Faces Budget Strains Amid State Mandates and Rising Costs - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2024\/12\/washington-county-faces-budget-strains-amid-state-mandates-and-rising-costs\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington County Faces Budget Strains Amid State Mandates and Rising Costs - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Paul Post A section of unused Washington County jail must be kept open and staffed, diverting funds from much-needed programs and services. 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