PERSONNEL COMMITTEE
March 15, 2017 NOT APPROVED Committee Members Present: T. O’Grady, D. Root, D. Decker, C. Crandall, (Absent: P. Curran, D. Fanton)
Others Present: W. Bise, S. Burt, H. Evans, K. Graves, D. Healy, K. Hollis, R. Hollis, J. Hopkins, C. Jessup, R. Keib, K. LaForge, T. Miner, B. Riehle, T. Ross, M. Washer, C. Whitwood
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:07 p.m. by Committee Chairman Timothy O’Grady.
Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Legislator Decker, seconded by Legislator Root, and carried to approve the Personnel Committee minutes of February 15, 2017.
DVM Fee Retention
Deputy County Clerk Ryan Keib requested a resolution to call on Governor Andrew Cuomo to increase our DMV fee retention from 12.7 percent to 25 percent. The requested resolution was recently adopted at the NYSAC Conference and will be considered at the next InterCounty meeting. Fifty-one of sixty-two New York Counties are mandated by the State to operate a local Department of Motor Vehicles Office. Under current law, the Allegany County Clerk pays 87.3 percent of all fees collected from the work performed by the County DMV to the New York State Motor Vehicles Department, and the remaining 12.7 percent County share has not been increased since 1999, yet the amount of work required by the County DMV office has increased in that same time period. Increasing the County DMV revenue sharing rate with the State will not result in any increased cost or fees to local residents or taxpayers and will provide counties with the needed revenue to continue to provide necessary local government services. There is a clear inequity present when a county DMV provides all the services, including overhead and staffing to fulfill these DMV needs for state residents, yet the State is paid 87.3 percent of the revenue generated from said services. Senate Bill S1908 and Assembly Bill A3397 provide a more equitable distribution of fees that would require 75 percent of all fees for in-office transactions to be forwarded to the State with the county retaining 25 percent of these fees, with the exception that the amount of county retention of the fee for Enhanced Driver’s Licenses would increase from 30 percent to 60 percent and the counties would retain 8 percent of the total fee for internet transactions processed for their perspective county residents. Counties recognize the important function of the State DMV in providing both support to counties and resident services; accordingly any loss the State DMV operational budget that occurs from increasing county revenue should be made whole through the State General Fund. The Allegany County Legislature calls upon Governor Andrew M Cuomo and members of the State Legislature to pass and approve Senate Bill 1905 and Assembly Bill 3397. The Clerk of the Allegany County Legislature will forward copies of this resolution to Governor Andrew M Cuomo, the New York State Executive Deputy Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, and Allegany County representatives of the New York State Legislature. This request was approved on a motion made by Legislator Root, seconded by Legislator Decker, and carried. Prepare Resolution
Board of Elections
Elections Commissioner Rick Hollis attended the meeting and noted to the committee that because of the changes to Amity Rescue Squad they can no longer vote there. The town of Amity will now vote at the vestibule at Genesee Valley High School as no other locations meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Mr. Hollis went on to say that Genesee Valley has approached them about taking over their school elections beginning in 2018. Mr. Hollis offered the same contract as Wellsville High School and has also offered to help them with anything they need.
Richardson & Stout Agreement First Assistant County Attorney Carissa Knapp stated the County is currently looking for Richardson & Stout to provide services for Worker’s Compensation and they have recently approached us with the terms of the contract. They are requesting $20,000 as payment for the one-year contract, and at the end of the contract, they will review and if costs can be cut, they will be. Chairman Crandall stated with this being new territory, is there any language in the contract to have the conversation regarding funds prior to the contract expiration. Ms. Knapp stated it was difficult to add in clauses not knowing how much work will be involved as well as how much it will cost, so they set it to expire at the end of the year, adding they can renegotiate for next year’s costs when they get a better idea of what and how much is involved. Committee Chairman O’Grady noted they have had prior discussions with Richardson & Stout who are in agreement that if the services are less than $20,000, they will reduce the price. Chairman Crandall stated Richardson & Stout’s track record with the County has been more than fair so he won’t question their word to renegotiate terms and cost when the time comes. A motion was made by Legislator Decker, seconded by Legislator Root, and carried to move the agreement between Allegany County and Richardson & Stout forward for Board approval. Prepare Resolution
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 3:19 p.m. following a motion by Legislator Decker, seconded by Legislator Root, and carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Meghan Washer, Secretary to Clerk of the Board
Allegany County Board of Legislators
