Debate on use of tobacco settlement funds continues at county level
NORWICH – Chenango County lawmakers were challenged recently to use more of the county’s distribution of the 1998 Tobacco Settlement Agreement funds as they were originally intended – for prevention and cessation programs.
Public Health Director Marcas Flindt requested an increase in the salary that would be offered to a health educator who would manage tobacco use prevention programs in 2010. The position has been vacant for two years.
The salary for the position was set at $52,000 almost a decade ago, but Flindt said bargaining unit salary rasies have increased the amount since then to $56,251.
“We’ve never increased it,” he said.
The amount in the department’s personnel line was shifted earlier this year to cover the cost of purchasing defibrillators for the County Office Building.
In addition to setting aside $52,000 each year for health educational purposes, lawmakers have used Tobacco Settlement funds in order to afford operations and staffing at the Public Safety Facility; for pledges to the Chenango County Historical Museum and other capital campaigns and, last year, for a replacement HVAC system in the Information Technology Department.
Town of Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown said using more Tobacco Settlement money for the position would “cost the taxpayers more either way” when that money isn’t available for use on other projects.
“A twenty percent increase is awful high,” said Supervisor Robert Briggs, R-Afton.
Flindt said a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in health education is required for the position.
Chenango County’s portion of Tobacco Settlement funds filter down to the county annually from a 1998 federal settlement between the states and major tobacco companies. The states settled their Medicaid lawsuits against the tobacco industry for recovery of their tobacco-related health care costs, and also exempted the companies from private tort liability regarding harm caused by tobacco use.
Deputy Treasurer Ardean Young reported that Chenango County received $907,074 this year versus $822,551 in 2008.
Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox said the Public Health Department’s budget increase should be kept off the levy.
“If that’s what the money was intended for, we shouldn’t be taxing the community,” he said. “Maybe it won’t be so easy now to jump to that line to grab a few thousands.”
The state of Ohio is currently in a tug of war over the proper use of Tobacco Settlement Funds. Last month a judge ruled that Governor Ted Strickland and the legislature acted illegally when they sought to take back $230 million in tobacco settlement funds they had placed in an endowment to fund programs to reduce tobacco use.
Public Health Director Marcas Flindt requested an increase in the salary that would be offered to a health educator who would manage tobacco use prevention programs in 2010. The position has been vacant for two years.
The salary for the position was set at $52,000 almost a decade ago, but Flindt said bargaining unit salary rasies have increased the amount since then to $56,251.
“We’ve never increased it,” he said.
The amount in the department’s personnel line was shifted earlier this year to cover the cost of purchasing defibrillators for the County Office Building.
In addition to setting aside $52,000 each year for health educational purposes, lawmakers have used Tobacco Settlement funds in order to afford operations and staffing at the Public Safety Facility; for pledges to the Chenango County Historical Museum and other capital campaigns and, last year, for a replacement HVAC system in the Information Technology Department.
Town of Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown said using more Tobacco Settlement money for the position would “cost the taxpayers more either way” when that money isn’t available for use on other projects.
“A twenty percent increase is awful high,” said Supervisor Robert Briggs, R-Afton.
Flindt said a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in health education is required for the position.
Chenango County’s portion of Tobacco Settlement funds filter down to the county annually from a 1998 federal settlement between the states and major tobacco companies. The states settled their Medicaid lawsuits against the tobacco industry for recovery of their tobacco-related health care costs, and also exempted the companies from private tort liability regarding harm caused by tobacco use.
Deputy Treasurer Ardean Young reported that Chenango County received $907,074 this year versus $822,551 in 2008.
Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox said the Public Health Department’s budget increase should be kept off the levy.
“If that’s what the money was intended for, we shouldn’t be taxing the community,” he said. “Maybe it won’t be so easy now to jump to that line to grab a few thousands.”
The state of Ohio is currently in a tug of war over the proper use of Tobacco Settlement Funds. Last month a judge ruled that Governor Ted Strickland and the legislature acted illegally when they sought to take back $230 million in tobacco settlement funds they had placed in an endowment to fund programs to reduce tobacco use.
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