Displaying items by tag: Saratoga County, Chad Cooke, Spencer Hellwig, shared services

Thursday, 10 August 2017 15:25

County Finds Half a Million to Save

BALLSTON SPA — Ahead of the formal vote to adopt a state-mandated plan to share services among numerous municipalities, Saratoga County officials have reported that nearly $500,000 in savings were found.

By October 15, according to the New York Department of State, Saratoga and all of the state’s counties are required to adopt official shared-services plans and schedule related public hearings. State lawmakers enacted the original mandate during this year’s budget process in Albany.

This week, Deputy County Administrator Chad Cooke said the Board of Supervisors will vote on a finalized shared-services plan at its August 15 meeting. The draft plan, he said, has identified two sections of Saratoga County budgets for reducing costs: cooperative bidding and a health insurance consortium for Medicare-eligible retirees.

“Currently, the plan includes anticipated savings of $300,265 for cooperative bidding and $172,376 for the health insurance consortium,” Cooke said, “for a total anticipated savings of $472,641.”

According to minutes of the county’s Law and Finance Committee meeting on July 12, approximately $556,000 in savings were identified at that time. But the committee had to factor in personnel costs of about $60,000 related to additional caseloads, producing a net savings of $496,000.

Cooke called the draft shared-services plan “a living document,” adding, “the totals could change slightly as we adjust based on submissions from municipalities with final budget numbers for the plan’s items.”

Earlier this year, County Administrator Spencer Hellwig said there are 26 departments in Saratoga County with 1,100 employees and combined budgets of nearly $300 million.

That does not include the county’s 2 cities, 19 towns or 9 villages, all of which have separate department staffs and annual budgets.

The City of Saratoga Springs operates independently of the county on a $45 million annual budget, says Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan. 

[Readers are encouraged to post respectful comments regarding the article below.]  

Published in News

Blotter

  • Saratoga County Court Matthew J. Gifford, 31, of Saratoga Springs, was sentenced to 5 days incarceration and 5 years probation, after pleading to felony DWI, charged February 2024 in Saratoga Springs.  Kevin P. Masterson, 52, of Mechanicville, was sentenced to 6-1/2 years incarceration / 5 years post-release supervision, after pleading to criminal possession of a weapon in the second-degree, charged May 2023.  Shawn Flores, 45, of Milton, pleaded to criminal contempt in the first-degree, charged February 2024. Sentencing July 30.  Nicholas F. Bonfante, 44, of Halfmoon, pleaded to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second-degree, a felony, charged…

Property Transactions

  • BALLSTON  Eastline Holdings LLC sold property at 1 Aspen Drive to Sateeshnvss and Srividya Gudipaty for $549,980 Adesh Budhraj sold property at 1 Larkin Road to Katz Excavating and Construction LLC for $65,000 CORINTH William and Robert Morgan sold property at 677 County Route 25 to Christin Guilder for $285,000 GALWAY Rita Werner and Erin Forlenza sold property at 1064 West Galway Road to Karen Crandall for $145,000 GREENFIELD Desolation Ventures Inc. sold property at 498 Lake Desolation Road to MW Real Estate Enterprises, LLC for $680,000 Justin Kelsey sold property at 519 North Creek Road to Scott and David…
  • NYPA
  • Saratoga County Chamber
  • BBB Accredited Business
  • Discover Saratoga
  • Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association