A public hearing was held before the Cortland County Legislature on Thursday, December 7^th, 2000 at 7:30pm in the Legislative Chambers of the Cortland County Office Building, to consider the Tentative County Budget for the fiscal year January 1^st, 2001 to December 31^st, 2001.

Chairman Harrington welcomed everyone and then led the salute to the flag. The Clerk called the roll and all members were recorded present, except Mr. Dwyer and Mr. Plew recorded as absent. She read the legal notice, as published, noting the fixed salaries of the Legislators, the summary of Appropriation, the Estimated Revenues, the Appropriated Cash Surplus and Increase/Decrease in the amount of the Tax Levy for 2001 versus 2000.

Chairman Harrington again thanked Mrs. Price and all the members of the Finance and Administration Committee, noting the time constrains and the excellent job they had done. Mrs. Price noted the budget was a bare bones budget and the tax increase was in part the result of some mandated salary increases and some difficult economic years when the surplus had been reduced to prevent any tax increase. Chairman Harrington explained that the purpose of the meeting was for the legislators to listen to public comment and that there would be no rebuttal or debate. He requested that anyone wishing to speak, sign in, and introduce him or herself when they spoke and to limit their comments to three minutes.

Thirty-four people spoke to the legislators. Jackie Davies, Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, asked the legislators to re-institute the position of motor vehicle examiner. Legislator Mary Contento spoke of the importance of the information booth. Sheriff Lee Price asked the legislators to add more revenue to the equipment account and Theresa Grau, from Harford, urged the legislators to keep a lid on the spending because she felt a down turn in the economy was inevitable. Four people spoke against the erection of a fence at the airport, suggesting the possibility of a public hearing so the residents could express their concerns. Twenty-six people, including people from the school community, Youth Bureau, business community and parents, urged the legislators to reconsider and allocate money for the tobacco prevention program.

At the conclusion of the public hearing, Chairman Harrington thanked everyone for coming and reassured them that they were heard.

On the motion of Mr. Teeter, seconded by Mr. Cornell and adopted, all members present voting aye, the meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m.

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