Greene supervisor balks at paying for more county code inspectors
NORWICH – Asking his constituents to help bail out Chenango County’s bankrupt codes office doesn’t sit well with Town of Greene Supervisor Jack T. Cook. It wouldn’t be legal to ask them to double dip, he said.
The division of the Chenango County Public Health Department, which has paid for itself since 2000, will be in the red by $100,000 or more at year’s end. Finance committee members talked at length Friday about the possibility of making the function a part of the general levy.
At issue is a request from Public Health Director Marcus Flindt to backfill three vacant positions. The department would run a deficit to pay for them. The Chenango County Board of Supervisors refilled two positions in the department last month.
Greene and three other municipalities – the City of Norwich, New Berlin and Earville – have their own code enforcement officers. “Before I agree to filling these positions, I want to know where the money is coming from. I don’t want my taxpayers to be paying a double tax. There are three communities with our own ... we pay our own tax. It wouldn’t be a legal thing for us,” Cook, R-Greene, said during a meeting of the safety and rules committee June 20.
“The positions should be backfilled,” said George G. Coates, I-Columbus. “The organization has to be staffed. I see a reimbursement for those towns that don’t need it.” Columbus has a population of roughly 930, and like other small towns, relies on the county to perform inspections and code enforcement.
Flindt said a long ‘to do’ list of building and fire inspections – in addition to mounting calls for enforcement – has made his department inefficient. The lack of big box retailers’ fees this year, and three more unfilled positions, has put a strain on the budget and meant that the work is not getting done.
“With the staff we have, there is no way we can please everybody,” Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Bates said. Officers try to max out their visits, averaging nine stops a day, he said.
“If people would call us in a timely manner, give us at least a two-day lead rather than an hour, maybe we could do better,” Flindt said.
With the three backfills, the department would have the six officers with which it started the year. “We were making some headway, until we lost them,” Bates said, adding that some of the officers left following disputes about the interpretation of New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.
County Treasurer Bill Evans recommended Thursday to deplete the department’s set-aside funds for vehicle replacement in order to pay for expenses, and then dip into set-aside surplus to afford the positions. Other supervisors have suggested that the department raise inspection fees.
Evans said a charge back system would be an option. “Maybe in 2008, when we prepare the budget, we could find a way to separate out the people who care for their own. The accounting could be accomplished,” he said.
Safety and Rules Committee Vice-Chair Janice O’Shea, R-Coventry, sitting in last week for an ailing Alton B. Doyle, R-Guilford, told Cook that she understood his position, but believed in an “all for one and one for all” philosophy of local governing. “You could look at DSS (social services), and how much do you (individual towns) want to pay for that? You could do that with many departments,” she said.
The supervisor of German, a town of about 370, said he was concerned with “different levels of enforcement for different towns.” Richard Schlag, a Democrat, said he has experienced “a reticence” when he calls for code enforcement. Other supervisors agreed with Schlag, saying the codes division “picks and chooses” enforcement situations.
O’Shea asked, “Can you use common sense with calls and avoid favoritism?”
Bates said he “makes every effort” to “have everybody (the 21 towns) on the same playing field.”
Outwater said the county “shouldn’t be monkeying around with enforcement.” He suggested that smaller towns consolidate their codes functions and contract with independent inspectors.
Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence N. Wilcox, R-Oxford, said he hopes to fix the problem in an upcoming meeting with Flindt. “We need to make certain that code enforcement understand that they are fee driven,” he said. “If this department goes on the levy, everybody (other municipalities) that has the capability is going to jump.”
“Then, it could come down to a county department operating for a couple of towns.”
The division of the Chenango County Public Health Department, which has paid for itself since 2000, will be in the red by $100,000 or more at year’s end. Finance committee members talked at length Friday about the possibility of making the function a part of the general levy.
At issue is a request from Public Health Director Marcus Flindt to backfill three vacant positions. The department would run a deficit to pay for them. The Chenango County Board of Supervisors refilled two positions in the department last month.
Greene and three other municipalities – the City of Norwich, New Berlin and Earville – have their own code enforcement officers. “Before I agree to filling these positions, I want to know where the money is coming from. I don’t want my taxpayers to be paying a double tax. There are three communities with our own ... we pay our own tax. It wouldn’t be a legal thing for us,” Cook, R-Greene, said during a meeting of the safety and rules committee June 20.
“The positions should be backfilled,” said George G. Coates, I-Columbus. “The organization has to be staffed. I see a reimbursement for those towns that don’t need it.” Columbus has a population of roughly 930, and like other small towns, relies on the county to perform inspections and code enforcement.
Flindt said a long ‘to do’ list of building and fire inspections – in addition to mounting calls for enforcement – has made his department inefficient. The lack of big box retailers’ fees this year, and three more unfilled positions, has put a strain on the budget and meant that the work is not getting done.
“With the staff we have, there is no way we can please everybody,” Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Bates said. Officers try to max out their visits, averaging nine stops a day, he said.
“If people would call us in a timely manner, give us at least a two-day lead rather than an hour, maybe we could do better,” Flindt said.
With the three backfills, the department would have the six officers with which it started the year. “We were making some headway, until we lost them,” Bates said, adding that some of the officers left following disputes about the interpretation of New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.
County Treasurer Bill Evans recommended Thursday to deplete the department’s set-aside funds for vehicle replacement in order to pay for expenses, and then dip into set-aside surplus to afford the positions. Other supervisors have suggested that the department raise inspection fees.
Evans said a charge back system would be an option. “Maybe in 2008, when we prepare the budget, we could find a way to separate out the people who care for their own. The accounting could be accomplished,” he said.
Safety and Rules Committee Vice-Chair Janice O’Shea, R-Coventry, sitting in last week for an ailing Alton B. Doyle, R-Guilford, told Cook that she understood his position, but believed in an “all for one and one for all” philosophy of local governing. “You could look at DSS (social services), and how much do you (individual towns) want to pay for that? You could do that with many departments,” she said.
The supervisor of German, a town of about 370, said he was concerned with “different levels of enforcement for different towns.” Richard Schlag, a Democrat, said he has experienced “a reticence” when he calls for code enforcement. Other supervisors agreed with Schlag, saying the codes division “picks and chooses” enforcement situations.
O’Shea asked, “Can you use common sense with calls and avoid favoritism?”
Bates said he “makes every effort” to “have everybody (the 21 towns) on the same playing field.”
Outwater said the county “shouldn’t be monkeying around with enforcement.” He suggested that smaller towns consolidate their codes functions and contract with independent inspectors.
Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence N. Wilcox, R-Oxford, said he hopes to fix the problem in an upcoming meeting with Flindt. “We need to make certain that code enforcement understand that they are fee driven,” he said. “If this department goes on the levy, everybody (other municipalities) that has the capability is going to jump.”
“Then, it could come down to a county department operating for a couple of towns.”
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