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COUNTY BUDGET APPROVED

WITH 2 REPS VOTING NAY

County Rep. Jim Powers, R-Butternuts, who chairs the Public Safety & Legal Affairs Committee, asks for data on whether sales-tax revenues will exceed projects. Powers ended up objecting to a proposal by county Rep. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, in the background, to give $10,000 to each fire department to use as they wish, on the assumption most would use it for pagers to connect with a new county emergency communication system. Power said the fire departments' needs have to be better understood before the allocation is made. (Jim Kevlin/allotsego.com)
County Rep. Jim Powers, R-Butternuts, who chairs the Public Safety & Legal Affairs Committee, asks for data on whether sales-tax revenues will exceed projections. Powers ended up objecting to a proposal by county Rep. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, in the background, to give $10,000 to each fire department to use as they wish, on the assumption most would use it for pagers to connect with a new county emergency communication system. Power said the fire departments’ needs have to be better understood before the allocation is made. (Jim Kevlin/allotsego.com)
County Rep. Ed Frazier, R-Unadilla, who chairs the influential Administration Committee, makes a point during today's debate. Listening is on the dias is county board Chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego.
County Rep. Ed Frazier, R-Unadilla, who chairs the influential Administration Committee, makes a point during today’s debate. Listening is on the dias is county board Chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego.
County Rep. Kay Stuligross, D-Oneonta, receives colleagues praise for successfully leading the sale of Otsego Manor.
County Rep. Kay Stuligross, D-Oneonta, receives colleagues’ praise for successfully leading the sale of Otsego Manor.

COOPERSTOWN – The county Board of Representatives adopted its $103 million budget for 2015 this morning, with only county Reps. Don Lindberg, R-Worcester, and Betty Anne Schwerd, R-Edmeston, voting no.

Among the last-minute issues, Lindberg tried to include a $10,000 contribution to each of the county’s 30 fire departments, to help them buy pagers needed to connect with the county’s new $8 million emergency communication system due to go online by the end of next year.

County Rep. Ed Lentz, D-New Lisbon, suggested several ways to split the $1.4 million in annual bed-tax revenues to help the major engines of tourism – the town and city of Oneonta, the Town of Hartwick and the Village of Cooperstown. But none of the motions passed.

Because the sale of Otsego Manor results in a $5 million savings, the document should result in a tax decrease, but when split among all taxpayers it should amount to no more than a few dollars each. Much of the $5 million was eaten up on such projects as a new roof on the Meadows Office Building and other maintenance delayed because of Manor costs.

Two controversial proposals that came out of the committee chaired by Lindberg – closing the Cooperstown DMV and merging Oneonta’s senior hospitality site into Nader Towers – had previously been removed from the proposed document.

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