COMMITTEE ON BUDGET & APPROPRIATIONS
MINUTES
OCTOBER 7, 2002
ATTENDANCE:
B&A MEMBERS: Wisnie, Alvarado, Bronz, Kaplowitz,
LaMotte, Oros, Stewart-Cousins,
Swanson
OTHERS: DEF: Anthony Landi; DSS: Kevin
Mahon, Nancy Travers, Jewreu Bandeh; John Page, Anne Boyer; Steve Riordan; Health: Alyse Portera; Patsy Yang-Lewis; Irv Cohen; Josh Lipsman: CEO: Andrew Neuman; Larry Schwartz; Budget: Daniel Cabera; Kate Carrano Arthur Vietro; CBAC/LWVLW: Barbara Strauss; Consumer Protection: Elaine Price; Finance: Peter Pucillo; CBAC: Arthur Stampleman, Fran MacEachron; BOL: Tara Bernard, Chris Chang, Barbara Dodds, Sally Schecter
The meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m.
On the motion of Legislator Kaplowitz, seconded by Legislator Swanson the minutes were approved by a vote of 5-0. Legislators Alvarado, Oros and Stewart-Cousins were out for the vote.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION:
Item A2, the addition of 14 parcels of property in Croton-on Hudson: These parcels should never have been removed from the district as some were already hooked up to sewers. On the motion of Legislator Wishnie, seconded by Legislator Kaplowitz, the motion was approved by a vote of 7-0. Legislator Stewart Cousins was out for the vote.
Item A3, the removal of 117 parcels of property in Croton-on-Hudson. These parcels are not connected to a sewer and there is no possibility that they will be in the future. There will be a minor fiscal impact to the district. Previously 354 parcels had been removed. On the motion of Legislator Wishnie, seconded by Legislator Kaplowitz, the motion was approved by a vote of 7-0 Legislator Stewart-Cousins was out for the vote.
Item A4, amending the laws of Westchester to authorize the payment of a salary differential to County officials and employees called to active duty. This had previous been approved by the Board but by law only 6 months at a time can be approved. Presently, there are 2 people involved. One has been in the service since September 11 and one went into the service approximately a month ago. On the motion of Legislator Swanson, seconded by Legislator LaMotte, the motion was approved by a vote of 7-0. Legislator Stewart Cousins was out for the vote.
Item A1, authorization to amend an outside counsel agreement with Oxman, Tulis, Kirkpatrick, Whyatt & Gieger in the case of Ernest Simpson v. County of Westchester. The lawsuit was filed by an Assistant Professor-Counselor at Westchester Community College Educational Opportunity Center because his job was abolished and he felt he was denied tenure protection. Presently there is a motion to dismiss but outside counsel has already spent $26,000 of the original $25,000 and the County Attorney’s office is requesting an increase to $50,000. Several legislators were uncomfortable with the $50,000 and the County Attorney’s office was willing to reduce the amount to $40,000. A new act and committee report were submitted. On the motion of Legislator Stewart-Cousins, seconded by Legislator Kaplowitz, the motion was carried by a vote of 8-0.
A5 and A9, Authorization to compromise claim of Westchester County against TIG Insurance for losses at the Yonkers Joint Waste Water Plant and authorization to institute legal proceedings against Moran Towing Corp. There are two pieces to this Legislation. The County hired Spearin, Preston & Burrows to perform stabilization work and subsequently to complete the full repairs to the plant. The total bill came to $1,799,029.26. The County has a $250,000 deductible. TIG insurance is willing to pay $1,254,224.36. The second piece of legislation would be to institute a lawsuit against Moran Towing for the difference that TIG is willing to pay the county. The Legislators feel the insurance company should collect the full amount from Moran and we should not settle with them for the $1,254,224.36. The County Attorney was asked if a complaint was file with the New York State Insurance Dept. These items will be held until our next meeting and Tony Landi, Tony Arena and the County Attorney will be asked to attend.
A19, amending the laws of Westchester to authorize remuneration for Consumer Protection hearing officers. The Consumer Protection Department is the only department that doesn’t pay their hearing officers. They would like permission to pay them which would amount from $3,000 to $7,000 per year. They would be paid $125 per an hour and there are approximately 10 hearings a year. These figures were not in the Committee Report nor the act. It was requested that this be corrected and it was resubmitted with this information. On the motion of Legislator Swanson, seconded by Chair Bronz and Legislator Kaplowitz, the motion was carried by a vote of 8-0 with Legislators LaMotte, Swanson and Oros voting “without prejudice.”
There was discussion with the Health Department as to their mandated items in the 2003 budget. Services to handicapped children has the largest increase. The discussion centered around Early Intervention and Preschool. There are approximately 6700 children covered by Early Intervention and 3600 by Preschool. The State Health Department or the State Education Department set the rates. The State Education Department is trying to push the children into a naturalized setting. Mandated expenses this year are $42,182,558 and it is expected to increase to $48,135,673. We pay 100 percent up front and there is an 18 month lag until we receive reimbursement.
The Social Services Department’s largest increase is in MMIS – Medical Assistance. There is an increase of $35,000,000. The department has 200 less lines than they had in 1998. The Trust line also went down – from 157 in 1998 to 60 in 2002.
The initial 5 years that a person would be on welfare ended September 2002 and the Feds granted a 2 month extension. Applications have increased but the case load has gone down because Social Services has been successful in finding people jobs. One of the Legislators questioned why travel and meals is mandated. The answer was it is related to training. Social Services lost 128 people to early retirement.
The A&C agenda was distributed and any questions were referred to Bob Boland.
On the motion of Legislator Kaplowitz, seconded by Legislator Swanson, the meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.