Hein, left, gesturing, explains the cuts. Among those listening, Lomita, center, Noonan, right foreground.

KINGSTON – A little bit here, a little bit there. The bottom line, almost $900,000 in department spending cuts to offset an unanticipated loss of state aid, and the ongoing fuel price spiral. That double-whammy put Ulster County officials in a hard place, having to make cuts in an already tight budget.

$300,000 goes into contingency.  The other $600,000 is earmarked to offset fuel costs.

Ulster County Administrator Michael Hein updated the County Legislature Ways and Means Committee Wednesday afternoon.  He said they tried to work it out so that no one department would take a big hit.

“Some are within the Sheriff Department, some are in areas like Mental Health, some are within the Department of Social Services.  It cuts across many areas and many portions of county services, all in an attempt to be able to be responsible to the taxpayers of our community.”

Hein said they are particularly concerned about people on the edge who are especially hard hit by the rising fuel costs, with the start of the heating season just a couple of months away.

Ways and Means Chairman Alan Lomita said he is satisfied that so far; the process is targeting the right places, and people.

“Not only the department, but also the people that are affected by the programs that they provide.  So, those that we felt were too detrimental to the citizens that we service, they cut back on; they didn’t use those, and they still had enough, at the moment, to deal with the problem.  Two months from now, we might have to do it all again.  We might have to hit the other departments in the county, but right now, we have covered the problem.”

Not quite, contends Republican Minority Leader Glenn Noonan, who wondered why they are finding these cuts now.

“My first question would be: where were they last year.  If they can cut them now, half way through this year, $900,000, that’s a lot of money.  Why didn’t they try to cut them last year and save the taxpayers tax increases over the past several years.  These are things that we should look at closer.”

Noonan has also been calling for a thorough review of the vehicle take-home policy.  He said a “very stringent” policy regarding the “24/7 vehicles” was adopted last fall, but has yet to be implemented.  If one of the issues is soaring fuel costs, that, Noonan argues, would be a good place to start.

Both Hein and Lomita say they welcome input from anyone on how the county can save even more money.  “If they make any sense, we’ll go along with that, as well”, said Lomita.

“We are making difficult decisions during challenging times”, added Hein.

The “people” side of the issue will be examined in depth Friday morning, at a ‘Home Heating Summit’.  Hein said they have invited representatives from federal and state agencies, local government officials, not-for-profits, faith-based groups, and the energy industry.