Steuben County budget work begins
BY MARY PERHAM THE LEADER

BATH - Steuben County legislators took their first steps Tuesday at trimming a 2008 preliminary county budget of $181.9 million.

The budget places expenses at roughly $2 million more than the current budget of $179 million, or a 5 percent spending increase, according to county Administrator Mark Alger.

The Legislature's Finance Committee Chairman Gary Swackhamer, R-Hornell, said the committee's goal for next year is to level property taxes.

"Nothing too sharp, nothing too low," Swackhamer said.

But state-mandated programs continue to weigh in with required services for special needs children under the age of 5 projected to cost nearly $1.2 million more next year. The increase is due in part to delayed billing by the state, with new charges extending back to 2001.

The preliminary budget also includes 10 new positions, and funding requests from outside agencies, such as the Southern Tier Library System, Cornell Cooperative and the local Humane Society.

Other significant increases next year include a $200,000 cost in utilities at the Steuben County Health Care Facility and a 15 percent hike in 911 costs.

The utility charges will become a county expense

once the new county health care facility opens, according to Alger. The 911 increase is anticipated as part of current negotiations, he said.

The budget also includes $100,000 for bridge work in the cities of Corning and Hornell.

The Department of Social Services has estimated a sizeable increase in services for recipients, juvenile delinquents and administration costs.

So far, the committee has pared down more than

$150,000 expenses from the 2008 budget, ranging from $2,000 in excess postage costs to denying a new $35,000 vehicle for the county Office of Emergency Services.