To the Editor:

It is fundamentally unfair that property tax payers in St. Lawrence County are forced to fund a greater portion of county costs than property tax payers in other New York State Counties.

The issue of changing the St. Lawrence County Sales Tax to a similar amount collected by other counties in our area and around the state is an issue of fairness.

The State property tax cap and the lack of support for providing a fair level of sales tax for St. Lawrence County is attributed with generating spending restraint within the St. Lawrence County budget for 2012.

Spending restraint in St. Lawrence County is not new in 2011 and 2012. We have been doing more with less.

The St. Lawrence County Highway Department has been working with the Federal Highway Administration (Research Division) to implement a new process to rebuild bridges.

This process, called “Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Integrated Bridge System,” has enabled the county to rebuild more bridges in less time and at lower costs.

On average rebuilding a bridge used to take 20 weeks, with a material cost of approximately $650,000. It now takes 5 to 6 weeks, and the material cost has been reduced to $200,000.

We have built 12 bridges using this method and as a result our list of bridges that require repair is shorter.

This is a classic example of government doing more with less.

This theme is echoed throughout St. Lawrence County government. The St. Lawrence County Public Health director has worked hard to get the Dental Sealant program transferred to Cerebral Palsy, and thus to enable us to continue to provide a much needed service at no county cost.

However, this mighty effort to do more with less in St. Lawrence County has been derailed by the New York State bureaucracy.

In St. Lawrence County we collect revenue from downstate auto dealers by providing outstanding auto registration service. Our motor vehicle department can turn around auto registrations in 24 hours.

Gavin Regan, our County Clerk, could have easily followed the lead of our former clerk, but instead has found innovative ways to increase this business while reducing administrative costs. Again, this is an example of doing more with less in St. Lawrence County.

Despite occasional well publicized differences and strong debates on specific issues, St. Lawrence County Legislators, Administrators, Managers, and CSEA employees are working together cooperatively to successfully find millions of dollars in labor, wage, and health insurance savings.

We have reduced the number of County employees by over 90 in the past 2 years, or nearly 10%, with only minimal decreases in services, and with no layoffs.

Our represented employees have worked with us by agreeing to job changes that have included accepting entirely different job duties in different departments, and sometimes changes in working hours.

County employees are contributing more to their health insurance. St. Lawrence County workers are doing more with less every day.

When outstanding efforts such as these are discounted with statements that St. Lawrence County does not have its financial house in order and that the tax cap created spending restraint, it discourages the innovative leadership found within the workforce of County government.

We need more innovative solutions to government revenue and cost problems.

We have cut our 2011 and 2012 budgets deeply. To keep property taxes as low as possible, we have lowered our fund balance. We have delayed purchase of much needed equipment. Our budget is not sustainable for a secure future. We need the same level of sales tax revenue found in other counties in our state. It is only fair.

Signing a “no new taxes” pledge is not innovative leadership. Those that draft this type of pledge do not know or care about the efforts of innovators in St. Lawrence County to find ways to do more with less. Those that sign such pledges are not displaying leadership, but are following the lead of people who are ignoring innovative leadership and fundamental fairness.

It’s time for New York State to treat St. Lawrence County and all counties fairly and equally, and it’s time for all our representatives in Albany to join those representatives that are fighting for us.

It’s time to support and fight for things like the innovation in the highway department, the dental sealant program, County Clerk revenue, fair and cooperative labor relations, fair sales tax levels, lower property taxes, and for a secure future for St. Lawrence County.

Frederick S. Morrill

St. Lawrence County Legislator

DeKalb Junction