Friday, April 19, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
To the Editor: I thank County Administrator Karen St. Hilaire for not sugar coating last year’s budget. She frankly acknowledges that, “St. Lawrence County has hit a budgetary crisis point.” …
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To the Editor:
I thank County Administrator Karen St. Hilaire for not sugar coating last year’s budget. She frankly acknowledges that, “St. Lawrence County has hit a budgetary crisis point.”
Indeed I would venture a guess that every county in New York has a budgetary crisis.
Despite cutting many programs, reducing staff, and many other cost savings, there is not much more to cut. One bridge in St. Lawrence County was closed in 2012 with more to come.
St. Hilaire has said delaying maintenance on roads and bridges “will ultimately cause our infrastructure to deteriorate further and cost us much more to repair in the long term.” “Costs including notably health care and state mandated contributions to the retirement system have offset… savings.”
“Despite reducing its workforce over the past three years, the County’s required contribution to the State retirement system has increased by 290% from $2.9 million in 2009 to over $8.4 million budgeted in 2013.”
Health care costs and pensions keep rearing their ugly heads. We need to address these two issues and take action. I suggest we get Medicaid off the county taxes and onto the state income tax (Resolution just passed by St. Lawrence County Legislators).
In addition, a national single payer health care system proposed by John Conyers’ HR676 in the House and Bernie Sanders’ S1782, are a step towards a solution to our crisis of rising health care costs and poor access to care. How many 290% pension increases in five years can we sustain and still be able to afford to live in our homes? The State pension and health care systems both need immediate reform.
We need to address these issues in a new way. We can’t arrest and incarcerate our way out of the growing heroin and meth epidemic staring us in the face.
We’ll all go broke.
Our infrastructure, the water, sewer, roads and bridges, are in need of less expensive maintenance and repair; not costly replacement and closures.
We need new ideas, real change now, and face the financial issues that confront us.
All quotes are from Karen St. Hilaire, County Administrator’s 2013 Budget (http://www.co.st-lawrence.ny.us/data/files/2013%20Budget%20Officer%20Message.pdf)
Richard Paolillo
West Stockholm
