Cortland County office building. (Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith/Cortland Voice)
Cortland County’s redistricting process, meant to happen every 10 years, has provided the legislature with a chance to make transformative changes to the way the county works.
One of the considered changes is transforming the current county government into a charter structure. Currently, according to New York Association of Counties (NYSAC) executive director Stephen Acquario, Cortland County operates under general municipal law in New York state.
“That's where all of your powers come from,” he said Thursday at a special County Legislature meeting where he explained how charter counties work. “And you could always do what's in those statutes. Your county attorney is adept and skillful to keep you in those lanes to make sure (you know how to work within the law).”
Part of the changes that a charter county could bring would be a redefinition of elected officials in the county.
“We are looking at reforming, if we change to a charter, positions and officers and making everything potentially more efficient,” NYSAC counsel Pat Cummings said. “But one thing that the charter must have, and what you cannot get rid of, is an elected body of representatives.”
Under a charter county, representatives could potentially turn jobs such as county treasurer — which is typically subject to an election — into positions that can be appointed and confirmed by the legislature.
“By referendum, one of the things you can do is you add or subtract powers and duties of elected officials,” Cummings said. “A charter also must list and organize the agencies and departments within your county. We would have to set up and establish within the charter what departments will be performing these functions and how those departments will be set up. We would have to have a list of county officers and the positions they would carry out, and whether those positions are elected or appointed.”
The charter must also dictate who will make appointments and determine the conditions of said appointments, Cummings said.
“Those are going to be key questions that are going to change county by county,” Cummings said.
Regardless of whatever form of government the county decides to adopt under a new charter, the legislature must retain its ability to pass local laws and appropriate funds, he added.
“You're going to have a say in the budget,” Cummings said.
A charter county would also allow the county to have a say on matters that aren’t already regulated by state law.
“You can take on services that are typically seen as town and city and village functions and make them countywide,” Cummings said. “A good example is when you go to a countywide police force as we have seen in Long Island.”
Under a county charter, Cummings noted, the county could create positions to help oversee financial health.
“In some charter counties you see county comptrollers that are sometimes elected, sometimes appointed, but you can create that,” he said.
To create a county charter, the legislature holds a bulk of the deciding power, with some agency for voters to decide on how to move forward.
“10 percent of the voters can decide ‘well, we think our government isn’t very efficient. We think we should change it,’” Acquario said. “ They could petition the legislative body to create a charter commission.”
If there is a charter commission, Acquario said, the Legislature can choose the composition of it. He gave examples of including members of the business community, as well as citizens and SUNY Cortland officials.
An example used by NYSAC of a charter county is Onondaga, which has a legislature and a county executive who is subject to an election.
“As an elected countywide executive, if one so chooses, a county executive would have to have veto powers over any legislative actions, including local laws,” Cummings said. “However, you can write in an override provision to override the executive’s veto.”
A reason why officials may go with a charter, Acquario said, is having a representative presence for the entire county.
“If you want to move to a charter is because you feel there should be somebody in charge of the county government, the face of the county government,” he said, referencing the work of Onondaga County executive Ryan McMahon.
