MAYVILLE - Much of the conversation regarding the County Home at the Chautauqua County Legislature's recent meeting surrounded whether it was proper to revisit a decision which was put on hold last month.
Some lawmakers though argued that the financial situation which the County Home is in requires that the body not delay in looking at options.
According to Chuck Nazzaro, D-Jamestown, starting Jan. 1, regional-based pricing will go into effect statewide - a change which he said will be devastating to public homes.
"That's going to be a four-year transitional period where the state of New York Medicaid, which is 80 percent of the residents in the County Home, will be affected," Nazzaro said. "Their reimbursements will be reduced drastically to Medicaid patients over a four-year period. And the last two years of that four-year cycle will be the most critical, so if we don't do something now we're going to be sitting here with a County Home that's going to be losing close to $4 million a year."
Nazzaro also told his fellow lawmakers that during the legislature's recent budget process, he asked the administrator of the County Home, Tim Hellwig, whether there is any way the facility can operate in the black - or even close to the black - without county and federal funding.
That answer was "no."
Also during discussion, Majority Leader Larry Barmore, R-Gerry, explained that the vote at hand was not to sell the County Home, but to begin work on a number of possibilities.
Similarly, George Borrello, R-Irving, argued that before lawmakers can make an informed and intelligent decision later regarding the topic, they need all the information.
"In order to have all the information, we need to know what is available and options for privatizing this, the County Home," Borrello said. "That's the bottom line here. And if we move forward now, there are still many, many months of discussion, debate and information gathering and in the end, we will all have more information to work with when the time comes to make this decision."
Borrello continued on to criticize the public sector for too easily taking from taxpayers to delay such decisions.
"When you have a business and things are starting to go south or things are changing or whatever it might be, you don't have the luxury of going to the backyard and picking money off the taxpayer tree so you can delay your decisions," Borrello said. "This body has that luxury. And some people choose to take that basket out back and pluck the money off the tree so they can take a little more time.
"I don't think that is a responsible thing to do," Borrello concluded. "I don't think it's an honorable thing to do and I think that we need to move forward, gather the information and then spend the time in discussing and debating all of the facts so that we can make this decision properly."
Like Barmore and Borrello, Nazzaro said he was opposed to postponing the initial decision regarding advertising the County Home for the next legislature.
"They will have a huge say on this when we vote or don't vote to proceed with privatizing it," he said. "But we are the ones here who have heard everything. I did have a couple new legislators contact me, and I met with them and I gave them all the data. So they are being educated and I really encourage this body to move forward and take (this step). This is only the next step."
The resolution approving the choice of Marcus & Millichap squeaked through the legislature Wednesday in a 13 to 11 vote.
According to Chuck Nazzaro, D-Jamestown, starting Jan. 1, regional-based pricing will go into effect statewide - a change which he said will be devastating to public homes.
"That's going to be a four-year transitional period where the state of New York Medicaid, which is 80 percent of the residents in the County Home, will be affected," Nazzaro said. "Their reimbursements will be reduced drastically to Medicaid patients over a four-year period. And the last two years of that four-year cycle will be the most critical, so if we don't do something now we're going to be sitting here with a County Home that's going to be losing close to $4 million a year."
Nazzaro also told his fellow lawmakers that during the legislature's recent budget process, he asked the administrator of the County Home, Tim Hellwig, whether there is any way the facility can operate in the black - or even close to the black - without county and federal funding.
That answer was "no."
Also during discussion, Majority Leader Larry Barmore, R-Gerry, explained that the vote at hand was not to sell the County Home, but to begin work on a number of possibilities.
Similarly, George Borrello, R-Irving, argued that before lawmakers can make an informed and intelligent decision later regarding the topic, they need all the information.
"In order to have all the information, we need to know what is available and options for privatizing this, the County Home," Borrello said. "That's the bottom line here. And if we move forward now, there are still many, many months of discussion, debate and information gathering and in the end, we will all have more information to work with when the time comes to make this decision."
Borrello continued on to criticize the public sector for too easily taking from taxpayers to delay such decisions.
"When you have a business and things are starting to go south or things are changing or whatever it might be, you don't have the luxury of going to the backyard and picking money off the taxpayer tree so you can delay your decisions," Borrello said. "This body has that luxury. And some people choose to take that basket out back and pluck the money off the tree so they can take a little more time.
"I don't think that is a responsible thing to do," Borrello concluded. "I don't think it's an honorable thing to do and I think that we need to move forward, gather the information and then spend the time in discussing and debating all of the facts so that we can make this decision properly."
Like Barmore and Borrello, Nazzaro said he was opposed to postponing the initial decision regarding advertising the County Home for the next legislature.
"They will have a huge say on this when we vote or don't vote to proceed with privatizing it," he said. "But we are the ones here who have heard everything. I did have a couple new legislators contact me, and I met with them and I gave them all the data. So they are being educated and I really encourage this body to move forward and take (this step). This is only the next step."
The resolution approving the choice of Marcus & Millichap squeaked through the legislature Wednesday in a 13 to 11 vote.
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