Poughkeepsie, Beacon would see little change in aid

By Anthony Farmer
Poughkeepsie Journal

The cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie will get a renewed boost and some relief may be in store for county governments -- though it's not what they hoped for -- under Gov. George Pataki's proposed 2003-04 budget.

Pataki held supplemental aid to local governments at last year's levels. That would mean $1.2 million for the City of Poughkeepsie and $400,000 for Beacon again this year.

Poughkeepsie applied last year's state aid toward keeping property taxes down in this year's budget, and plans to utilize this year's aid in 2004, Mayor Colette Lafuente said.

''I was very concerned about whether or not supplemental aid would be in the budget and keeping it at the present level is critical to the City of Poughkeepsie,'' she said. ''The governor shows a profound understanding for how important cities are for everybody in an area.''

Relieving counties of burden

Pataki has also proposed changes to the way parts of the Medicaid program are financed to help relieve the burden on counties. Skyrocketing costs have forced counties to spend anywhere from 75 to 100 percent of what they collect in property taxes on their share of Medicaid, the federal health care program for the poor.

Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus said the exact details of Pataki's Medicaid proposals hadn't been clearly defined, but it sounded like they were aimed more at containing costs than providing monetary relief. Steinhaus, and other county leaders around the state, have been lobbying to have the state cap the counties' Medicaid expenses at 2002 levels.

Steinhaus said it is just as important for the state Legislature to agree on a budget with the governor by the April 1 deadline, something that hasn't happened in 18 years.

If a state budget isn't approved until August, as has been the case in past years, that forces counties to make 12 months of budget adjustments in the final four to five months of the year.

''That creates anarchy in trying to deliver services,'' he said. ''We're holding tight on a lot of things because we don't know what tidal wave is going to drown us in the coming months.''

Pataki's proposed cuts to the Medicaid program didn't go far enough, said Assemblyman Tom Kirwan, R-Newburgh.

''Every time you cut Medicaid, you not only save the state money, you save taxpayers money across the state,'' he said.