By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON – Norfolk legislator John Burke has taken the reins of fiscally shaky county government, and is hopeful that strategic planning will allow the legislature to regain some stability.

“I am looking forward to some of the challenges and I am very hopeful that together as a legislature we can really make some progress,” he said,

Burke said he appreciates the work done by Joseph Lightfoot and Kevin Acres who led the county in cutting $5 million from the budget in 2015.

However with sales tax coming in $3 million below estimates, Burke says the county has lots of work to do.

While Burke agrees that cuts need to be considered, he said the county has an obligation to ensure it maintains necessary services as well.

“We can’t loose sight of our critical services as we look to save money. It’s a challenge and there is no easy answer,” he said. “We need to not just look at what we can cut, a lot was cut last year, we need to find a better way of meeting our contractual needs obligations for less money. We need to look for efficiencies.”

Burke opposed a recent resolution approved by the legislator that called on department heads to search for new ways to trim their budgets in an attempt to make up for the sales tax short fall.

The resolution cited the county’s negative fund balance as the reason such cuts were necessary. But, the resolution did not offer specifics on how much should be cut, or from where the cuts should be made.

Currently, the county borrows millions of dollars each year just to pay bills. It amounts to an annual interested payment of more than $100,000.

Burke said that while he understands why legislators are desperate to find savings through cuts, he prefers to tackle the budget issue through strategic planning instead.

The planning department will lead the planning by weighing the county’s strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats.

Burke says by taking a look at the bigger picture the legislatures will be able to balance cuts with needs and identify ways to save money without eliminating services.

He expects the county will re-examine its healthcare spending. Currently the county is self-insured. Burke said that he wasn’t calling to change that, but said it never hurts to look at other options.

As part of his plan Burke says he would also like to find savings that will benefit the taxpayer directly, such as group purchasing energy, which could mean cheaper electricity and power.

“There are many things I’d like to explore,” he said.

Burke says the county will likely be referencing the recently completed McKinsey study, which was paid for by the New York Power Authority as part of a recent relicensing agreement for operating the hydro-power dam in St. Lawrence County.

McKinsey estimated that if all of the plans outlined in the study were implemented, it could add between 1,025 and 1,900 direct jobs and increase gross domestic product by $105 million to $190 million by 2020 to $4.04 billion total.

Burke said the plan will be an excellent resource as the county looks to expand the tax base.

In the plan, Burke says a report shows history of job declination.

“I don’t know the answers, but I know for sure if we don’t give (planning) its due that that slippage in jobs could grow and we can’t afford that,” he said.

Of course Burke’s call for strategic planning has been met with some opposition. Legislator Joe Timmerman has spoken in opposition to planning citing a lack of funding as the county’s main problem.

But Burke said he expected all legislators would be involved in the process.

“I believe all 15 people on the board want what is best for the county, we certainly have different ideas of what that consist of, but there is no doubt in my mind that everyone on the board genuinely want to see what’s best for residents of St. Lawrence County.

The first strategic planning meeting was set to be held Monday.