Oneida County's COVID status strong, financial situation shaky, and may worsen, even with vaccine By Luke Perry
There were no COVID deaths in Oneida County over the last 10 days. County Executive Anthony Picente told Talk of the Town this is the “greatest news we’ve had in a long time.” Oneida County has 131 active cases, and 10 hospitalizations, which Picente believes “says a great deal about the job that is being done here.”
Picente believes people are doing a better job of protecting themselves and the virus appears to be dissipating. More people are accustomed to using P.P.E. and the nursing home situation has improved. Managing asymptomatic cases remains a persistent challenge in continuing to limit the spread of COVID.
Oneida County’s budget has a shortfall of about 20 percent, prompting cuts of $7 to $10 million. Picente is concerned about sales tax payments. The county receives six of these payments each year. Revenue declines have fluctuated throughout the year from 20 percent to 40 percent. “Cashflow is the biggest problem right now,” Picente said.
Photo from WKTV
Oneida County expects the resumptions of payments from Turning Stone Casino, which opened in June. Picente said one problem is the time lag between when the casino pays New York State, and the three weeks to a month, before that money is reimbursed to Oneida County.
“If the Oneidas make a payment now, then we can expect it hopefully, with normal turnaround from the state, in the first part of a September,” Picente said, “which would be very good for us, because we’re going to need it.”
Picente believes COVID “is not a 2020 problem only” and will impact budgeting for several years. “The economic pain is not something that goes away when the disease goes away,” Picente said.
Moving forward, Picente believes curing COVID “could be even more economically stressful than the disease itself, as crazy as that sounds.”
“The nation is not going to pick up the tab” for administering a COVID vaccine, Picente said. “We can’t get the federal government to give us money now for what we’re doing.”
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College
