As expected, Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. has vetoed a budget amendment that would have provided partial reimbursement for legal fees incurred by the Towns of Vernon and Verona against the Oneida Indian Nation’s land-into-trust action. The man who backed the amendment said today that Picente’s reasons for vetoing it are flawed, but that he will likely not try to override the veto.
On Wednesday, Picente sent a letter to the members of the county Board of Legislators. In it, he explained why he vetoed reimbursement of $50,000.
"This action sets a dangerous precedent for the County," Picente wrote. The towns contracted for and incurred legal expenses without consulting with or obtaining prior approval for such fees from the county, he wrote. "For the County to now reimburse those expenses, even in part, would open the door for any municipality to expect this type of backdoor assistance to be delivered in the same manner."
The two town actions duplicate those filed by the state and Oneida and Madison counties, Picente added. "These towns chose to file their own suit. The County should not be expected to pay for such a duplication of effort."
"His reasoning is flawed," said Board Democratic Minority Leader Michael Hennessy of Sherrill. "Every resident of Oneida County would benefit from this," he said of the towns’ ability to fight the trust action. "The cost could easily be reimbursed by part of the $2 million each year the state has been giving the county because we’re an impacted area. We should use some of that money for this." Picente said in his letter: "That money is not for legal expenses. It is for the loss of property tax revenue," for which, excluding the casino parcels, the county continues to make whole the school and town taxes in both Vernon and Verona (in addition to other districts). "In this case, the towns have been a beneficiary of such assistance and will continue to be, as the law requires. This financial aid offsets what would otherwise come from our general fund."
Picente defended the county’s assistance to an eight-county coalition to fight the placement of the power lines by New York Regional Interconnect. The City of Utica hired independent counsel to fight NYRI and paid for it independently, he said. The County did not provide funding for the city’s defense in this matter nor did the city request it, he added.
The county also did not provide assistance to the Town of Ava to fight the siting of the landfill, Picente said. Hennessy said that example is a poor one, as in that case, the county was the defendant and would have been foolish to subsidize a fight against itself.
The amendment passed 15-14 last Thursday, and would require a two-thirds vote to overturn the amendment. Hennessy said that it will be a battle to overturn it. "We’ll try, but let’s be realistic about it. A lot of the legislators haven’t take the time to understand what’s going on here and how it would benefit the entire county."
