KINGSTON – In the wake of a dire 2011 budget report presented by county budget director Art Smith, Ulster County Executive Michael Hein unveiled, at a press conference held last Wednesday, a deficit reduction plan called the "Taxpayer First Initiative," that he claims could save the county $8.6 million. "The people of Ulster County cannot afford a major tax increase," Hein said.

On April 13, Smith warned members of the budget and finance committee of a potential budget gap of up to $25.3 million for 2011, or 7.1 percent of the county's overall $350 million budget. Much of the increase can be attributed to an additional $7.5 million to $14.85 million in new healthcare and retirement costs over the 2010 budget.

Hein's 10-point spending reduction plan targets three main areas, including personnel, facilities, and public legal costs. Among the proposals outlined in personnel are staff reductions in the executive office, overtime and attrition plans, retirement incentives, a plan to transition to a full self-insurance health program and a hybrid prescription plan that would allow county employees to purchase prescriptions from a Canadian company, CanaRx.

The initiative eliminates an assistant deputy county executive from Hein's staff. Vincent Martello, who has been serving as Hein's director of communications, will be reassigned to a reclassified position with the health department. Calls for the executive to reduce his staff were made by some area Republicans during the 2010 budget negotiations. Hein says the move will save the county more than $89,800 in 2011.

The county executive said that his office is "aggressively managing staffing levels," with an eye toward attrition and overtime reductions. Through these efforts, he proposes saving more than $2 million. Hein said he has also directed the personnel department to develop a new retirement incentive for the 350 eligible county employees.

Other cost-cutting measures include subdividing and selling parcels of the 15-acre, county-owned property on Flatbush Avenue in Kingston, closing some of the Health Department's satellite offices, and consolidating office space. While several buildings on the Flatbush Avenue property house a number of county departments, including the Health Department., Purchasing, Veterans Affairs and Human Rights, the majority of the 15-acre parcel remains undeveloped. Hein cited Syracuse-based C&S Engineers, who assessed the cumulative value of the parcels at more than $1.6 million.

The initiative also advocates the creation of a Conflict Counselor's Office to provide mandatory legal representation in a more cost-effective manner. Currently, a legal process called an 18B requires the county to pay for a court-appointed private-sector attorney to represent, in Family Court, individuals who are unable to pay for legal counsel if the Public Defender has a conflict and is unable to represent the individuals. In 2009, the expense for 18B work in Ulster County's Family Court amounted to more than $550,000. Hein expects to save the county $150,000 next year if the legislature approves the measure to create the new office.

All totaled, Hein said the savings proposed by the Taxpayer First Initiative will help to create a "new financial paradigm" for Ulster County.

Asked if the initiative were enough to stave off additional layoffs, Hein said that "everything has to remain on the table" at this juncture. "There simply isn't enough money to support the status quo," he said, "People want their government officials to make the same choices they make every day."