OWEGO, N.Y. — The New York Department of State announced Tioga County will receive $1.18 million in state matching funds as a result of taxpayer savings achieved in 2022.
The funding comes from the County-Wide Shared Services Initiative, which provides a one-time state match of county and local-government savings achieved in the first year of implementation of new shared-services projects.
“The County-Wide Shared Services Initiative incentivizes our partners in local government to work together to find operational efficiencies that generate taxpayer savings,” Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez said in a press release. “Tioga County is the latest example of how this program works to deliver real results for New Yorkers, and we look forward to seeing the future cost savings that will be generated from these shared-services projects.”
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As part of the initiative, Tioga County created a shared-services plan to identify ways to consolidate services and save taxpayer money through government efficiencies in services and community programs.
Projects implemented under the plan include the following.
Broome County Purchasing Alliance Medicare Advantage Plan. Tioga County partnered with Broome County to participate in the alliance, which acts as a purchasing agent and pools purchasing power through collaboration with other counties, towns, villages, cities, school districts, and other eligible governmental entities. This allowed the county to reduce costs associated with providing retiree health insurance to eligible employees and resulted in $803,048.55 in taxpayer savings.
NYS Pharmacy Purchasing Coalition. The Owego-Apalachin School District partnered with Capital Region BOCES to join the coalition, which allows the school district to receive group-purchasing discounts on pharmacy benefits. This resulted in the district achieving $378,287 in taxpayer savings.
“Tioga County was fortunate to be able to join the Broome County Purchasing Alliance Medicare Advantage Plan for considerable savings,” Tioga County Legislature Chair Martha Sauerbrey said. “Our benefits manager did a thorough examination of the program and found it to not only be a significant savings to the county but also an excellent plan for our retirees. We are extremely grateful that the Shared Services Program will bring matching funds which translates to savings for our taxpayers.”
The County-Wide Shared Service Initiative Program generates property-tax savings by facilitating collaboration between local governments across the state. New York State has matched more than $40 million in one-year savings to local governments and taxpayers from more than 100 shared-services projects over the last five years.
