By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
As part of its $1.29 billion budget for 2018, the Onondaga County Legislature has allotted $50K for the continued operation of a shared services council.
Despite giving the green light for funding, legislators are still unsure of what lies ahead. It is unclear whether the council will be a continuation of the panel of mayors and supervisors that voted on the County-Wide Shared Services Plan, or the Greater Syracuse Shared Services Council mentioned in the plan.
“There’s been so many iterations of shared services agreements. … It’s very confusing,” said First District Legislator Brian May. “We voted to budget the dollars needed to continue that shared services council should it materialize.”
However, the Greater Syracuse Shared Services Council may not materialize at all. In last month’s vote on version 2.01 of the County-Wide Shared Services Plan, most towns and villages requested the withdrawal of the council proposal from the plan. The following municipalities remained onboard: the towns of Cicero, DeWitt, Fabius, Geddes, Pompey, LaFayette and Tully and the villages of Camillus, Elbridge, Fabius and Tully.
The powers of the council would include acting as a purchasing consortium, coming up with “practical ways and means for obtaining greater economy and efficiency in the planning and provision of municipal services” and promoting the cultural, economic and general welfare of the county.
May said Onondaga County town supervisors and village mayors felt forced into approving the plan. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Aid and Incentives for Municipalities funding is contingent upon local governments adopting shared services plans.
“They had no choice but to participate in this process because of the dollars that are at stake,” May said.
Despite the uncertain future of the shared services council, May said the services and tax savings listed in the County-Wide Shared Services Plan are beneficial to local municipalities. May said the legislature was “risking being neglectful” if it did not approve funding for the council.
“We felt we had to protect the interests of our towns and our villages, just like our mayors and our supervisors,” he said.
May criticized Cuomo’s shared services edict, saying the governor is “making political hay” and is not taking into account the intermunicipal agreements many towns and villages already have in place.
“Local government doesn’t appreciate top-down initiatives like that,” he said. “This top-down initiative totally discounts almost everything that everybody is doing every day to save taxpayers money. They’re just not putting it in a pretty package.”
May said the state should focus on trimming its burden on taxpayers, an effort that would take “real political courage” on the part of state legislators.
Local leaders approved the savings initiatives in the County-Wide Shared Services Plan, May said, but the process of creating that plan has been fraught.
“The intent is noble among all involved,” he said. “It still doesn’t change the flavor that leaves a bad taste in everybody’s mouth.”
