NORWICH – A Health and Human Services Committee referral to establish a capital account for receiving $34,000 in federal stimulus - an amount offered to every county in New York to fight obesity - led members of the Chenango County Finance Committee into a discussion of the possible disappearance of stimulus.
The stimulus was offered not in up front cash, but as a reimbursement.
“We don’t want to front $34,000 and not know if we are getting the money back,” said Supervisor Wayne Outwater (R-Lincklaen).
A public health department official said accepting the funds would have required attendance at training seminars. The money could be used to create obesity prevention programs in a myriad of ways, either through the county department or for individual town recreational programs, but would not be applicable to afford existing personnel or projects already underway.
“Will we establish something that has an expense further on? Can we pay for it?” asked Supervisor Harry Conley, R-Sherburne.
The referral died in Finance for lack of a motion.
Chenango County Treasurer William E. Evans recommended foregoing the stimulus, questioning whether it would be available in the future. He referred to the state’s $2.1 budget deficit and the shifting of costs to county property taxpayers.
Chenango County has seen a 12 percent decline in sales tax receipts, and like other counties in the state, increased unemployment, an increased demand for county services and lagging reimbursements for infrastructure.
“We are at the eve of budget time. We need to be conscious of the sales tax,” said Evans. “One of our primary revenue sources that we rely on is in jeopardy.”
Local sales tax collections for all of New York, including New York City, declined by 8.9 percent, or $640 million, over the first seven months of 2009 compared to the same period the year before.
Supervisor Dennis Brown, D-Pharsalia, commented that Chenango County has used excess sales tax to balance the budget for many years in the past.