Franklin County trimming contracts by 10 percent

MALONE — Franklin County 2010 budget deliberations are thorny because no one knows how much more the state will force localities to pay for programs and services.

"We have no idea what the hell is happening in Albany," said County Legislature Finance Committee Chairman Earl Lavoie (D-Malone).

"It's a big question mark," he said. "The budget comes out April 1, and there will be some drastic cuts. We've been living beyond our means for a long time."

His comments came during a budget public hearing Thursday where officials with the Cornell Cooperative Extension came to ask that its 10-percent budget cut be restored.

All service contracts were cut by the same amount across the board to reduce the county's tentative tax-levy increase from a projected 18.1 percent to the current 4.23 percent.

Lavoie said the North Country is a tourism destination, "but they don't like to pay taxes" by purchasing homes that provide a steady flow of tax dollars as property owners.

"Our people are older, and the young people are leaving," Lavoie said. "In five or 10 years, senior citizens will be telling us they can't afford to live in Franklin County, and we're worried about that."

Extension Director Carl Tillinghast and Board of Directors President Andrew Schrader said the agency's programming is an economic-development engine in these tough times.

"Everything that Cornell Cooperative Extension does contributes to trying to halt the flow of young folks from the county and bring business people into the county," Schrader said.

Tillinghast explained that small farms have increased in the past five years and that extension has not only kept 4-H Camp Overlook open during lean times but has expanded the amenities and is preparing to promote and market itself as a four-season destination by the end of the year.

He said 814 children attended camp in 2009 and another 113 young adults worked as counselors-in-training.

But, in the past 10 years, his agency's budget has increased an average of just 2 percent a year.

"We're looking to sustain and grow, not go back," Tillinghast said.

Lavoie said he understands the problem, but there is only so much legislators can do until it knows more from downstate.

"We have to answer to the public," he said, adding that there will be more budget discussions before it is adopted. "Everyone asked for an increase.

"We're stuck," Lavoie said. "And we have very stagnant assessing in Franklin County. Fifty percent of the Village of Malone is non-taxable. It leaves us in a crisis."

Schrader said Cooperative Extension can eke out its programs and services at the lower level, but there is only enough money in a small reserve fund to do it for a year.

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com