NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF STATE ANNOUNCES LEWIS COUNTY RECEIVING NEARLY $2.2 MILLION IN STATE MATCHING FUNDS

Secretary Mosley: “Lewis County is easing the burden on its taxpayers by working with its municipalities to streamline government functions and finding efficiencies by delivering sustainable health coverage for retirees.”

The New York Department of State today announced that Lewis County will be receiving $2,176,973.31 in state match funds for its work to bring its municipalities into the Broome County Purchasing Alliance (BCPA). The vast percentage of the savings comes from Lewis county’s participation in the Broome County health care purchasing alliance’s program to reduce the cost of health care coverage for municipal retirees through group purchasing.

In addition to the money saved through joining the Alliance, Lewis County generated a match of $7,145 for its municipalities by purchasing ArcGIS licenses and credits for municipalities to access modern GIS services through the Lewis County Real Property Department. The state matching funding comes from New York’s County-Wide Shared Services Initiative (CWSSI), which incentivizes counties, cities, towns, and villages to partner on shared services and efficiency projects by providing a one-time state match of county and local government taxpayer savings achieved in the first year of project implementation. In addition to the first-year savings, expected to continue generating savings for the participating local governments in future years.

“Lewis County is easing the burden on its taxpayers by working with its municipalities to streamline government functions and finding efficiencies by delivering sustainable health coverage for retirees,” said Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley. “This is an excellent example of good governance —finding ways to save taxpayer dollars, improving operations and continuing to keep the promise of providing quality healthcare for New Yorkers as they enter this next phase in life.”

In 2023, Lewis County took the lead on bringing municipalities to the table to join the Broome County Purchasing Alliance, which pools purchasing power between local governments to reduce costs, risks, and future rate instability for retiree health coverage by securing competitive coverage and rates for its participating members. The Alliance itself began as a CWSSI project to lower costs for Medicare Advantage and prescription drugs in 2021.

Assemblymember Ken Blankenbush said, “As the Ranker on the NYS Assembly Insurance Committee and a former elected official on the town and county level; I am very impressed with Lewis County Officials and their pursuit of the Shared Services Initiative. This project will be a huge savings to the county but most importantly the taxpayers of Lewis County.”

Larry Dolhof, Chairman of Lewis County Board of Legislators said, “In today's world of exponentially increasing health care costs, Lewis County is continuously looking for ways to manage these increases.  We thank the Governor of New York and her administration for partnering with us and the Broome County Alliance, in order to help make health insurance more affordable for the residents of our county.”

About The County-Wide Shared Service Initiative Program

The County-Wide Shared Service Initiative (CWSSI) program was enacted by the State Legislature at the request of the governor in 2017. It generates property tax savings by facilitating collaboration between local governments across the state. New York State has matched over $40 million in one-year savings to local governments and taxpayers from over 100 shared services projects over the last five years. CWSSI expands on New York State’s ongoing commitment to reduce property taxes and modernize local government services by fostering new shared services and enhancing the existing collaborations already in place. Plans submitted in 2023 are the last to remain eligible for the one-time state match, but counties and municipalities are encouraged to continue working together to identify efficiencies and shared services that provide a long-term benefit to local taxpayers.

Guidance documents regarding the CWSSI and state match application process, as well as past CWSSI plans, are available here.

The County-Wide Services Initiative is administered by the Division of Local Government Services at the Department of State. The Division provides technical assistance, competitive grants and non-competitive grants to local governments. For more information on CWSSI or any programs administered by the Division, please contact [email protected] or call 518-473-3355.

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