Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

31
As prepared for delivery 1 2013 State of the County INTRO Thank you, Bill, for the introduction. Welcome, it is my pleasure to be here to deliver the 2013 State of the County Address. Much has happened in our County in the last year and there is much to report. As we begin, I would like to welcome Onondaga County Legislature. Chairman McMahon, our offices work very well together and it has been a pleasure working with you. I would also like to acknowledge each of the County Legislators who are with us tonight so that you may join me in thanking them for the hard work they do. I would ask that you please hold your applause until the end. In addition to Chairman McMahon, we have: Majority Leader Patrick Kilmartin; Minority Leader Linda Ervin; John Dougherty; Kevin Holmquist; David Knapp;

description

Delivered March 5, 2013 at Carrier Theater in the the John H. Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse, N.Y.

Transcript of Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

Page 1: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

1

2013 State of the County

INTRO

Thank you, Bill, for the introduction.

Welcome, it is my pleasure to be here to deliver the 2013 State of the

County Address. Much has happened in our County in the last year and

there is much to report.

As we begin, I would like to welcome Onondaga County Legislature.

Chairman McMahon, our offices work very well together and it has

been a pleasure working with you. I would also like to acknowledge

each of the County Legislators who are with us tonight so that you may

join me in thanking them for the hard work they do. I would ask that

you please hold your applause until the end.

In addition to Chairman McMahon, we have:

Majority Leader Patrick Kilmartin;

Minority Leader Linda Ervin;

John Dougherty;

Kevin Holmquist;

David Knapp;

Page 2: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

2

Danny Liedka;

Brian May;

Kathy Rapp;

Chris Ryan;

Derek Shepard;

Judy Tassone;

and

Monica Williams;

Thank you all for being here.

I would also like to welcome for the first time, Legislators Chet

Dudzinski and Bob Andrews. Chet and Bob are the most recent

appointments to the legislature taking over for Bill Meyer and Mark

Stanczyk who have both accepted full time jobs in county government.

Bill and Mark, thank you for your 52 years of service on the legislature

and I look forward to continue working with you.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and her team are here. The Mayor

and I have enjoyed success this year and I look forward to continuing

our partnership. Downtown is booming. Last year we talked about the

number of cranes in the air, and there are even more this year. You

Page 3: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

3

may have heard it before, but our community genuinely has a

reputation for getting things done and for working well together. As

Senator John DeFrancisco said,

“[Mayor] Miner has been "excellent" on downtown development.

"There’s a ton of construction, a lot of projects started up …

downtown is being reborn -- [our elected officials are] the most

cooperative I’ve seen in 35 years of public service. Everyone talks

to each other. Everyone tries to work things out. When we

disagree, we disagree, but at least you can tell each other how you

feel".

Mayor, I agree with your bandmate the Senator -- it has been a

pleasure to work with you and your team, I look forward to building on

the successes we have had.

I would like to recognize some of the county employees who are new

since my last State of the County address:

Steve Morgan took the job as Chief Fiscal Officer in June of last

year and he has been excellent. In addition to managing his

departments, Steve is charged with helping to set policy. A great

example of the work he does is the recent plan to provide health

benefits to retirees through a Medicare Advantage Plan. This

approach will provide a richer benefit package to retirees at a

Page 4: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

4

substantially lower price. When fully implemented, the County

will save $4 million annually.

In addition to Steve, we also have new department heads, please

join me in welcoming our

Facilities Commissioner Duane Owens

Veterans Agency Director Corliss Dennis, and;

Probation Commissioner Andrew Sicherman

I am happy to be working with you all.

As I prepare for the State of the County every year it is a good

opportunity to reflect not only on where we plan to go, but where we

are now and how we got here. While the financial results for 2012 are

not quite final, it appears that the County will once again end the year

with a surplus. This is great news and I thank the legislature for

working with me--- together, we’ve been very successful.

And we remain vigilant. A big part of the reason we are in good fiscal

shape is because we adapted quickly to the Recession. As soon as we

saw revenue was falling and the number of people in need of help was

rising, we refocused on our core mission and drew parameters around

food, safety and shelter. We are keeping an eye on the Federal

Sequestration and will again take whatever steps are necessary to keep

us on firm footing.

Page 5: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

5

We know property taxes across New York State are too high. You’ve

heard a lot about unfunded mandates and the fact that we don’t have

complete control over our costs. That is why we work especially hard

on the local level to keep our own County tax rate low. At $5.28 per

thousand, our County property tax rate is lower than it has ever been.

Strong fiscal years like 2012 help Onondaga County maintain high bond

ratings. According to Moody's Investors Service, only 2 New York

State Counties have achieved a higher rating than Onondaga County.

One of the benefits of a strong bond rating is the county’s ability to

borrow money at very low rates. In 2012, we issued $51.4 million in

General Obligation bonds at a true interest cost of 2.70%, our lowest

rate in recent history. With people in need of work and the county in

need of capital improvements, seized the opportunity we had with the

low cost money available. We’ve seen though – especially at the

federal level that borrowing money without a plan for how you will pay

it back can very quickly cause a crisis.

That is why I am happy to tell you that Onondaga County is once again

leading the way in financial management.

In cooperation with the legislature we’ve set aside $5 million of our

fund balance to account for the spike in debt payments we know will

Page 6: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

6

come to pay for new capital projects which the county deferred in

recent years.

The County has a healthy fund balance – money which belongs to

taxpayers –but it is a non-recurring source of funding and by applying it

to a non-recurring expense, we will continue to stay healthy.

PAUSE

Sales tax receipts are also up in the county – and that is due in large

part to the increase in visitors. There are many reasons why visitors are

finding our community attractive. Our downtown area is being

revitalized by development, Syracuse University and Chancellor Nancy

Cantor continue to engage the community and anytime you can pack

more than 35,000 into the Carrier Dome and sell out the Syracuse

Crunch game on the same Saturday afternoon, you must be doing

something right.

But we also have for the first time in a long time a new entertainment

destination. As a community, we partnered with the Pyramid

Companies in the 1990’s to build Carousel Center and then again on its

recent expansion, DestiNY USA. The basic assertion to the taxpayers

from the beginning when Mayor Tom Young first proposed the deal

was that the increase in sales tax receipts would more than offset the

waiver of property taxes.

Page 7: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

7

There has been confusing information about the deal but, I am here to

tell you that project is, in fact, spinning off millions of new sales tax

dollars to our city and to our county. Today, Destiny is open and

thriving – and our whole community is benefiting. It’s not just

taxpayers who benefit, in 2013 more than 5,000 people will be

employed at Destiny and 400 more continue to work in construction

jobs related to the project.

Much of the sales tax growth we are seeing is generated specifically by

Destiny and is from people who are visiting us from outside our area.

This slide shows where US shoppers came from during one recent

week. DestinyUSA is investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to

advertise our region in Canada and across New York State. Recent

projections show that 23 million people will visit DestinyUSA in 2013

and the community is seeing the benefit which was promised long ago.

There are also collateral benefits to having DestinyUSA as an attraction.

Destiny helps us attract conferences and conventions generating both

room taxes and sales taxes. As you may have heard, Onondaga County

was chosen as the site of the 2018 US Bowling Conference. This event

will attract 80,000 visitors. Major thanks are due to County Legislature

Chairman Ryan McMahon for his work securing this exciting

opportunity for our community. Along with the Convention and visitors

Page 8: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

8

bureau, Ryan has been campaigning heavily for us and even traveled to

Texas personally to make the pitch to them directly. Thank you Ryan

and thank you to the Convention and Visitors Bureau for making this a

reality.

Another conference we are working is the direct result of the very

successful Save the Rain Program. I never imagined 4 years ago when

we came up with the name ‘Save the Rain’ that it would become a

nationally recognized program. We are now working with Judith Enck,

EPA’s Regional Administrator for New York, New Jersey and Puerto

Rico, to host a national Green infrastructure conference here in

Syracuse. As you may remember, Onondaga County was chosen by EPA

as one of 10 green infrastructure partners. We are inviting the other

partners to a convention here to learn from each other and share what

we know with communities following our lead – after all – where better

to have a green infrastructure meeting than at a convention center with

a green roof?

Save the Rain has been wildly successful – and it is thanks in large part

to the hard work of Deputy County Executive Matt Millea, WEP

Commissioner Tom Rhoads, the hard working men and women of our

Department of Water Environment Protection and the many outside

contractors who are working very hard on behalf of Onondaga County.

Page 9: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

9

In 2012, we advanced many high profile Save the Rain projects:

Work began on the construction of a wetland treatment system along

Harbor Brook on Syracuse’s west side. When complete, the wetland

will passively treat thirteen million gallons of polluted storm water that

now flows untreated to Onondaga Lake. In fact, we are simply

restoring a wetland system that was filled in years ago when we failed

to appreciate that wetlands serve as natural filters for our water

resources. And, unlike sewage treatment plants, that use a lot of

electricity, you don’t have to plug in a wetland.

Work was also completed on Phase 1 of the Connective Corridor

project. I was honored as our community was recognized by the United

States Green Building Council for our community’s close collaboration

on this project. I applaud Chancellor Cantor for her leadership on this

transformative project and thank her for agreeing, very late in the

design process, to allow us to include Save The Rain in the project

design. Today, when you drive down East Genesee Street, in addition

to wonderful green bike lanes, you’ll see rain gardens, new tree

plantings, and parking areas paved with porous asphalt, all helping in

our efforts to clean and protect Onondaga Lake.

Page 10: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

10

I encourage all of you to visit our new Save the Rain website. Last year,

we launched an updated and improved site that includes all of the

details of every Save the Rain project, including technical drawings and

project specifications. The public owns these projects and we take

great pride in ensuring that this information is accessible and available

to those that want to see how we are investing their tax dollars.

I’m very pleased to announce that we have completed work on the War

Memorial Water Reuse project and that in doing so; we won a

$750,000 grant from New York State’s Environmental Facilities

Corporation to help offset the cost of the project.

We were successful in securing these funds because this unique project

uses state-of-the-art treatment technologies and demonstrates that

storm water can be reused as a resource rather than simply dumped in

a sewer. Instead, we’re capturing and storing rain water off of the War

Memorial’s roof, treating it on site and using it to make ice for the

Syracuse Crunch. This year, we’ll expand the use of the system to help

with irrigation at the Everson Plaza and around the War Memorial.

Our Save the Rain program is not a responsibility that we take lightly. 4

years ago we were given an opportunity to do things differently, and

Page 11: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

11

we have an obligation to do the job well, share our story and help other

communities share similar success. And there are many communities

seeking to learn from our experience.

To the chagrin of his family, Deputy County Executive Matt Millea has

visited eleven communities in the past two years to tell the story of

how we “Save the Rain” in Onondaga County. I appreciate very much

Matt’s willingness to be our ambassador - it has been a very valuable

investment. I am equally appreciative of Matt’s wife Lori who holds

down the fort (with these three little guys) while Matt is away--telling

our story and earning invaluable good will and grant money to help his

adopted hometown become a better place for all of us to live. Our

success brings visitors, students and admiration to our community. I’ve

said it before and I mean it quite literally, from way over here in

Onondaga County, we are changing the world.

In fact, Matt was invited to speak at the White House at a national

green infrastructure summit. And just a few weeks ago, the White

House listed Syracuse as a model community for advancing Green

Infrastructure among several very large, high profile cities. We should

all be proud of what Save the Rain has accomplished and excited about

what lies ahead.

Page 12: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

12

And, if you will indulge me for one final point on Save the Rain, I am

extremely proud to announce that Onondaga County has been selected

to receive the 2013 United States Water Prize for Save the Rain from

the U.S. Water Alliance which honors individuals, institutions, and

organizations that have made an outstanding achievement in the

advancement of sustainable solutions to our nation’s water challenges.

As we work to strengthen and expand our “water economy” in Central

New York, we can have no better marketing tool for our community

than to have national organizations like the U.S. Water Alliance

recognize and promote the proud reality that we are in fact national

leaders in protecting our valuable water resources.

A great partner in our effort to clean Onondaga Lake is Honeywell. As

you may know, Honeywell is spending 450 Million dollars to do its part.

There has been much activity on the site and Honeywell recently

opened the Onondaga Lake Cleanup Visitors center where the public

can see its progress firsthand. Thank you to everyone at Honeywell for

all that you are doing.

PAUSE

We have exciting work taking place on the other side of the lake as

well.

Page 13: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

13

Democracy was born on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Five nations

came together to form the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and they are a

key part of our region’s history. We have formed a public/private

partnership with the Onondaga Historical Association, the Onondaga

Nation, the Friends of Historic Onondaga Lake, LeMoyne College and

Syracuse University to create the Haudenosaunee Heritage Center at

Saint Marie Among the Iroquois. Planning is already underway and will

continue throughout this year to tell the story of the Haudenosaunee

history in relationship to our community, state, nation and the world. It

is an important story to tell and this partnership will ensure it is told

accurately.

#PAUSE

In June of last year, the Syracuse Onondaga County Planning Agency

released an updated development plan for Onondaga County. It’s

available at future.ongov.net and I encourage you to read it.

This plan, a successor to the County’s 2010 Development Plan, was

crafted with the input of planning professionals, community

stakeholders, many public meetings, polls, surveys and extensive

community outreach.

It’s interesting and I think compelling that what came out of this

process is very similar to the 2010 plan.

Page 14: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

14

Both plans agree that there should be a priority placed on development

in areas served by existing infrastructure. Both plans agree that our

community cores, the City of Syracuse as well as our fifteen Villages,

are vital to the long term health of our community. And, both plans

stress the importance of preserving our rural landscape and the viability

of our $140 million agriculture economy.

I understand that our draft plan has resulted in some debate and even

a little resistance.

Debate is good, let’s continue to discuss the pros and the cons of what

we’ve proposed.

I want to assure everyone in Onondaga County however, that this plan

was developed with the best interests of our taxpayers, the future

residents of Onondaga County and our children in mind.

I recognize that there are strong and vocal national opponents to the

notion of Sustainability and Smart Growth. Please keep in mind that

they may not all be aware of the fact that we are struggling to pay for

the infrastructure that we already have in place. They do not share my

concern about the potential for a $90 million upgrade to the Oak

Orchard waste water treatment facility should development continue

north of Route 31 unchecked by sound planning. And I they do not

appreciate that there is a cost to poor planning and that that cost often

Page 15: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

15

does not make itself known for a generation or more and is often times

exponentially greater than the initial investment.

As a matter of fact, in an effort to balance the rhetoric from the

outside, let’s look at what an expert on Onondaga County thinks about

the value of good planning and smart growth. Please take a look at

this:

“Onondaga County’s goals include a vibrant, growing economy, a high

quality of life, and fiscal strength. Our strategies in response to change

require cost-effective infrastructure, sustainable development practices

and stewardship of our environment.

Onondaga County’s policies for investment and land use call for

investment in existing communities, preservation of infrastructure and

transportation assets, sustainable urban and suburban settlement

patterns, and protection of rural economy, agricultural land and access

to natural resources.”

I think that it is important to be very direct and very blunt about where

I hope this plan goes from here.

Page 16: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

16

My administration stands ready to work with the legislature to advance

a final development plan that reflects these priorities and ensures that

we are not burdening future generations with the costs of poor

planning and bad decisions made today.

Development can and should continue in Onondaga County, it’s

important to our economy. The cost of this development should be

borne, however, by those advancing these projects, not the unknowing

taxpayer. And this cost can be reduced when it occurs in areas already

served by existing infrastructure. In this scenario, everyone wins. New

development happens, we are not burdened with the cost of new

infrastructure and our tax base grows rather than feeding upon itself.

With that said, we can call the plan anything you like.

I am open to an honest and forthright debate about our plan and how it

might be improved upon. On this I think we all agree; supporting

development that provides net positive tax revenue is vital to stabilizing

taxes and fostering future economic development.

In an effort to further these priorities, I will once again submit to the

Legislature a proposal to authorize funding for our Sustainability Pays

initiative.

Page 17: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

17

SMALL PAUSE

I would like to recognize many of our towns and villages for the efforts

they have taken to foster sustainability. The towns of Cicero, Clay,

Dewitt, Lysander, Marcellus, Skaneateles and Van Buren as well as the

Villages of Baldwinsville, East Syracuse, Marcellus and North Syracuse

are to be commended for their commitment to sustainability. Each of

these municipalities voted to opt in to the Real Property Tax Law

section 485-a; which exists solely to promote sustainability in our urban

cores. Congratulations to each of you and thank you to the Onondaga

County Legislature for voting unanimously in favor of 485-a and a more

sustainable future.

And thank you to the Legislature also for supporting our request last

year to provide $1 million for Farmland Protection in 2013. The

county’s new Agriculture Council is hard at work and we are happy with

its direction.

One of the specific tasks I gave the Agriculture Council was to help

ensure that county government is working to promote and

preserve Onondaga County's strong farming community.

According to the United State Department of Agriculture,

Onondaga County has 692 farms, occupying 150,000 acres of

farmland. The market value of agricultural products sold is $140

Page 18: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

18

million, with the average farm producing almost $200,000 worth

of crop and livestock sales.

I also charged the Council with the task of helping to develop

strategies and programs to promote local food regionally as well

as strengthen and enhance connections between the County’s

urban core to rural, agricultural areas.

This initiative has been a tremendous success. I offer a special thanks to

co-chairs Paul Nojaim, David Knapp, Kay Hilsberg and all the council

members for your hard work.

PAUSE

You may have noticed that for the second straight year our region has

had more success than any other with Governor Cuomo’s Regional

Economic Development Council Competition.

We were recognized for having the best overall plan and for having the

best outcomes for two years in a row. Thank you to Chancellor Cantor

and CenterStateCEO President Rob Simpson for leading this effort.

And the Regional Council isn’t the only good economic news in our

county. Our own department of Economic Development led by Mary

Beth Primo has had a great year as well.

Page 19: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

19

Our Onondaga County Civic Development Corporation (which we

call OCDC) and our IDA facilitated $194 million in private capital

spending in Onondaga County;

The first business to qualify for our IDA’s new adaptive reuse

PILOT is Bitzer Scroll. We created the new PILOT in 2012 to

encourage the redevelopment of Onondaga County’s existing

industrial infrastructure and ultimately raise the value of

commercial properties across the County.

BITZER Scroll expanded its Onondaga County presence to

accommodate its growing R&D and manufacturing needs. BITZER

relocated to the vacant John Deere building and over the next five

years, will add 56 new well-paying jobs.

In other good Economic Development news, OCDC assisted with

the issuance of $142.7 million dollars in bonding for St Joseph’s

Hospital to significantly expand and modernize its facilities on the

North side of Syracuse.

And, Southern Wine & Spirits of Upstate New York is nearly

doubling its warehouse and distribution facility in the Town of

Salina, cementing its position in Onondaga County.

Page 20: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

20

OCIDA and Sysco Syracuse closed on a PILOT Agreement for

Sysco’s $20 million expansion and renovation of its distribution

center in the Town of Van Buren and consolidation of its Western

New York operations to its Onondaga County facility.

Tessy Plastics, in the Town of Elbridge, worked with OCIDA on its

100,000 square foot manufacturing expansion to accommodate

its growing plastic injection molding operations, bringing Tessy’s

approximate number of employees to 725.

And last year, the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Lysander began to

operate under the terms of a new 15-year PILOT approved by

OCIDA and the Legislature, the Town of Lysander, and the

Baldwinsville School District. Thanks to the new PILOT, Anheuser-

Busch Inbev agreed to invest more than $7 million in its canning

capacity in its brewery.

Teamsters Local 1149, which represents about 90% of the

brewery's work force said it best when they proudly announced

that "This is the first significant bump we've seen in five years.

Thanks to a tremendous level of cooperation and collaboration

Page 21: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

21

between State and local government, the Baldwinsville school

district, AB InBev management, and the Teamsters union, we are

seeing more beer production and more jobs here in Onondaga

County. "

The good news on the job front is thanks to a smart team of people in

our Economic Development office who listen to businesses about what

they need and then respond effectively.

Also in the last year, in cooperation with officials in Cayuga, Oswego,

and Madison counties, we set up the Foreign Trade Zone under a

modern, flexible framework and I am pleased to share with you that

just a few weeks ago, the US Department of Commerce approved a

reorganization of the County’s long dormant Foreign Trade Zone.

Foreign Trade Zones can help businesses reduce costs which can lead to

more competitive U.S. operations, thereby helping to maintain U.S.

activity and jobs. By helping local employers remain competitive, zones

can contribute boosting employment opportunities and encourage

increased investment in U.S. facilities.

PAUSE

As you can see, we have had great accomplishments on the Economic

Development front, and to be even more successful, we need to

Page 22: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

22

continue to lower property taxes and make government more

affordable.

We know we need to continue to modernize our system of government

and that by doing so we can save money but there is still real resistance

to change and—at least sometimes there is still a fear of the

uncertainty.

A vote to consolidate can mean big change and people want to know

what happens when you take the leap of faith and do something like

abolish your local police force. To address that uncertainty, I think

there is value in looking back at the Clay Police Merger: Believe it or

not, this year will be the 5th anniversary of that consolidation.

The public heard much about this proposal at the time, but as is often

the case, we didn’t hear much about what happened once the story

was out of the news. So I have a report today that I think is meaningful

and might be helpful when weighing consolidation decisions in the

future. The Clay Police Merger was a resounding success. In 2008, we

conservatively projected that the savings to clay taxpayers would be

about $1.1 million in the first year. The actual savings were over $1.3

million. At the time, Clay leaders projected the 10 year savings to be

$18 million and recent projections put that number closer to $30

Page 23: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

23

million over 10 years. These savings are real and Clay taxpayers are the

beneficiaries.

I appreciate that voters in Clay took the bold first step and I hope that

by sharing the 5 year results, we can encourage taxpayers—when given

an opportunity to vote on a consolidation referendum-- to vote in favor

of a more modern and efficient local government. We know from the

Clay story that there are millions of dollars in savings if we can only

muster the courage to change the way we do things. Taxpayers will

feel the results in their wallets and we will lower costs to businesses to

encourage even more job growth.

But Clay residents are not the only ones benefiting from government

modernization; we do have towns and villages across the county I’d like

to commend for their creativity.

Van Buren, Salina and the Village of Baldwinsville are sharing a

comptroller.

The Memphis fire department merged with the Warners Fire

Department

Geddes and Solvay are now sharing a codes officer

The City of Syracuse and 6 other municipalities merged their

purchasing operations with Onondaga County saving hundreds of

thousands of dollars for taxpayers in the County.

Page 24: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

24

Our purchasing department, led very capably by Sean Carroll is

also providing service to 20 fire departments.

And to make sure Sean is kept very busy, he has also consolidated

auction services for 32 political subdivisions generating nearly one

million dollars in revenue that can be used to offset taxpayer

expenses.

And remember, consolidations don’t always have to be completed

within the County. In January we announced a new partnership –

Oneida County is contracting with our Medical Examiner’s Office

and eliminated its own system of Coroners.

PAUSE

Under the leadership of Ann Rooney, we are taking a look at all of our

human services. We know we can do better for the children and

families of our community.

We want to support youth in their own homes, schools and

communities, and give them the opportunity to succeed and prosper as

adults. Our plan for 2013, which I will present to the legislature during

the budget process, is to start from scratch. Rather than too many

separate departments in the human services arena, we plan to

Page 25: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

25

coordinate and consolidate our efforts, so that we will ultimately have a

Department of Children and Family Services, a Department of Adult

Services and a traditional Department of Social Services to administer

our public benefits in addition to the departments mandated by the

state. This realignment will be more customer and prevention focused,

but will also have the added benefit of being administered financially

through one system, again, saving taxpayers money.

You have heard me say many times that we cannot expect to get our

social service costs under control unless and until we break the cycle of

poverty plaguing too many families in our community. One effort that

is accomplishing this goal is Say Yes to Education.

I can say with confidence that our collaboration with Say Yes to

Education and the Syracuse City School District is producing results.

Over the last year, the Wallace Foundation made a multi-million dollar

investment in Say Yes; and I attended a funding meeting at the Ford

Foundation where Say Yes was celebrated as the future of urban

education. I attended meetings with the United Negro College Fund in

an effort to convince them to join the other private colleges which

provide free tuition for Say Yes graduates. The U.S. Secretary of

Education, Arne Duncan, had this to say about our community:

Page 26: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

26

“What you have done with the Say Yes to education plan, I think is

phenomenal … what Syracuse has done is absolutely amazing and

has implications for a national model”

The future is very bright and it is with deep gratitude that I thank the

local foundations and businesses for contributing to the Say Yes

endowment. Just last week, Bob and Sue Congel announced their

generous gift of $100,000 to Say Yes. While they usually make

philanthropic donations anonymously, they agreed to let me highlight

their generous, personal donation in an effort to encourage others to

do the same.

PAUSE

Because the county charter requires that I deliver the “state of the

county” please let me turn to a more technical response for a couple

minutes. I caution you that the following can be a little dry but it offers

a good analysis of where we are:

To confirm our belief that we are headed in the right direction, we now

have an independent outside source. The New York State Comptroller

has adopted an evaluation system for municipalities across the state.

Called the “Fiscal Stress Monitoring System” this program seeks to

identify local governments that are in fiscal stress. There are two major

components of the monitoring system – a financial indicator and an

Page 27: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

27

environmental indicator and each component is broken into sub-

groups.

The State comptroller has assigned points to each indicator and then

weighted the categories to give an accurate indication about the fiscal

health of a municipality.

We think it’s a valuable exercise to run the county through the analysis

and here’s what we found:

The way the system works, the lower the score, the stronger your fiscal

health. The maximum number of points a county can be given on the

financial side is 29.

The County was given two (2) points in the area of fund balance. To

achieve a perfect score, the state comptroller wants to see a general

fund balance which exceeds 20% of total expenses. For Onondaga

County, that would mean a fund balance in excess of 147 Million

Dollars.

While some have said our fund balance is too high, financial managers

would like to see it even a little bit higher and for that we were

assigned two (2) points. Given the 50% weighted value of that

measure, Onondaga County’s score is 12.5%.

On the other financial indicators, the county scored very well:

Page 28: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

28

We have not run a deficit in any of the last three (3) years and

earned zero points

Our cash exceeded our liabilities and our cash as a percentage of

our monthly liabilities scored zero points

We issue no short term debt and have not issued any in the

previous 3 years, which is excellent

Our personnel and employee benefit costs are well within the

healthy range and we scored no points there either, and finally;

Our debt service as a percentage of our revenue is very low.

With zeroes in every category except fund balance, the county scored a

total of 12.5%.

A score of 65-100% is “significant financial stress”

55-65% is “moderate financial stress”

45-55% is “susceptible to financial stress”

A score below 45% is indicates that the municipality is “not in

financial stress”

With a total of 12.5%, we are well under the threshold and can safely

say that on the financial side, Onondaga County is fiscally sound.

Page 29: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

29

The other major category is environmental and there are a possible 27

points which can be scored. Here’s how things look in Onondaga

County:

With our population up in the last census and our median age

growing only slowly, the county scored zero points.

And while our child poverty rate is below the NYS average, the

rate of change earned us one point, with a 10% weight associated

with the point, Onondaga County is at 2.5%

With our property values growing, we score another zero; and our

unemployment rate trending down and our overall unemployment rate

staying below the state average, we earn two (2) more zeroes.

The only other place we get a point added is in our total number of

jobs. The county lost 249 jobs between 2010 and 2011. With our own

staff reductions in county government, we are probably responsible for

that number and will accept the ding.

With another 10% weight for that point our total has grown to 5.83%.

The county’s limited reliance on federal and state aid relative to our

overall budget and our ability to stay well under our constitutional tax

limits earns us zeroes.

Page 30: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

30

And finally, the fact that our sales tax receipts exceed the consumer

price index earns us our final zero for a total of 5.83%.

Again:

A score over 65% is “significant financial stress”

55 is “moderate financial stress”

45% is “susceptible to financial stress”

And below 45 is indicates that the municipality is “not in financial

stress”

The 5.83 is far below any indication that we suffer from fiscal stress.

And with an abundance of caution, we even called the State

Comptroller and asked him to check our numbers – which he did.

There should be no surprises when the state reports the fiscal health of

local municipalities. There will be few – if any –that are able to claim a

more solid financial footing.

I'd like to conclude on a brief personal note. When I asked voters to

allow me to take on the job of County Executive in 2007 I told them

that I wanted to make Onondaga County a place where all of our

children could thrive. You've given me the last 5 years with an

incredibly talented and generous team of professionals. I've

surrounded myself with the most loyal, hardworking group of people

Page 31: Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney's 2013 State of the County Address

As prepared for delivery

31

anywhere and I ask only that you judge us on our accomplishments. My

husband Marc is here tonight with our oldest son. Jack was 12 when I

started the job and he is now a high school senior making plans for

college. I will be eternally grateful that you gave me the opportunity to

work hard and make this the kind of place he might choose to live on

his own someday. While we certainly have more work to do, I can say

confidently that we are, in fact, headed in the right direction. Like a lot

of parents, I'd walk in front of a bus to do what's best for my kids----and

trust me, on some days it feels quite literally as if I have.--

But when I reflect on the last 5 years, I do see good things. I'm proud to

call CNY my home and I thank you for the opportunity to be your

County Executive.

With that, good night. We will be back at it tomorrow.