Understanding Ditch Maintenance Decisions of Local Highway Agencies for Improved Water Resources across New York State

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (12) ◽  
pp. 767-773
Author(s):  
Rebecca Schneider ◽  
David Orr ◽  
Anthony Johnson
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New York State ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Shared Services ◽  
York State ◽  
Maintenance Decisions ◽  
Regulatory Mandates

Networks of roadside ditches criss-cross the landscape, and have played a significant but previously unrecognized role in flooding and water pollution. This study surveyed town and county highway professionals across New York State (NYS) to determine their ditch management practices. There was a 41% response rate from the 999 highway staff surveyed, representing 54 of the 57 counties statewide. 36.8% of the agencies reported using full scraping or reshaping without reseeding as their primary method of ditch management and half scraped their ditches on average once every 1 to 4 years. It is estimated that one-third to one-half of the roadside ditches across upstate NYS are therefore in fair to poor condition. This translates to thousands of miles of exposed substrate vulnerable to storms, acting as a source of sediment and pollution. Limited resources including time, labor, equipment, and money were the primary reasons given for the practices used. Additional challenges identified included interactions with landowners over rights-of-way, farm-field drainage, and increasing frequency of downpours. A comprehensive, state-wide program will be necessary to actualize ditch improvement. It will require a complete toolbox of strategies, from financial support and training to regulatory mandates and penalties, and needs to include a ditch inventory system. Incentives in the form of grants and shared services should be offered by state agencies working collaboratively with local governments. Valuing highway department managers as water stewards and supporting the improved management of roadside ditches can provide an important new mechanism for protecting NYS’s water resources.

scholarly journals Leviathan or Public Steward? Evidence on Local Government Taxing Behavior from New York State

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin M Aldag ◽  
Mildred E Warner ◽  
Yunji Kim
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Fiscal Federalism ◽  
New York State ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Fiscal Stress ◽  
York State ◽  
Expenditure Limitations ◽  
Logistic Regressions

Abstract Fiscal federalism argues local governments compete to provide optimal tax-service bundles as responsible public stewards. In contrast, Leviathan theories argue tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) are necessary to make local governments fiscally responsible. We analyze local taxing behavior in New York State, which implemented a levy limit in 2012 that allows legislative overrides with 60 percent vote of the local governing board. Our 2017 survey of all general-purpose local governments measured fiscal stress, service responses, and local political attitudes and found 38 percent of municipalities voted to override. Logistic regressions show local governments that have more fiscal stress, weaker property tax bases, higher need, and higher employee benefit costs are more likely to override. These findings support fiscal federalism, as local governments that override are pushing back against state policy in order to respond to local needs. TELs introduce unnecessary rigidity and run counter to the precepts of fiscal federalism.

scholarly journals Does Home Rule Overrule the State`s Role? An Analysis of Property Tax Administration in New York State

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-67
Author(s):  
Tae Ho Eom
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
New York State ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
The State ◽  
Tax Administration ◽  
Home Rule ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Tax System ◽  
York State

This essay analyzes the property tax system in New York State. Based on historical and comparative analyses of three critical factors in property tax administration-assessment standards, revaluation, and assessing units-this study reveals that the current property tax administration structure has deep roots in the "home rule" tradition in New York State, making it hard to achieve intradistrict equity in property tax burden for some assessing units. The study concludes that the state's lack of active role undermines public faith in the property tax system and in local governments. The state should not be overruled by the local government politics based on home rule.

Irrigation Is Significantly Associated with an Increased Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in Produce Production Environments in New York State

2015 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 1132-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL WELLER ◽  
MARTIN WIEDMANN ◽  
LAURA K. STRAWN
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Listeria Monocytogenes ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Odds Ratio ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New York State ◽  
Irrigation Level ◽  
York State ◽  
Listeria Species ◽  
Production Environments

Environmental (i.e., meteorological and landscape) factors and management practices can affect the prevalence of foodborne pathogens in produce production environments. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria species (including L. monocytogenes), Salmonella, and Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in produce production environments and to identify environmental factors and management practices associated with their isolation. Ten produce farms in New York State were sampled during a 6-week period in 2010, and 124 georeferenced samples (80 terrestrial, 33 water, and 11 fecal) were collected. L. monocytogenes, Listeria spp., Salmonella, and STEC were detected in 16, 44, 4, and 5% of terrestrial samples, 30, 58, 12, and 3% of water samples, and 45, 45, 27, and 9% of fecal samples, respectively. Environmental factors and management practices were evaluated for their association with terrestrial samples positive for L. monocytogenes or other Listeria species by univariate logistic regression; analysis was not conducted for Salmonella or STEC because the number of samples positive for these pathogens was low. Although univariate analysis identified associations between isolation of L. monocytogenes or Listeria spp. from terrestrial samples and various water-related factors (e.g., proximity to wetlands and precipitation), multivariate analysis revealed that only irrigation within 3 days of sample collection was significantly associated with isolation of L. monocytogenes (odds ratio = 39) and Listeria spp. (odds ratio = 5) from terrestrial samples. These findings suggest that intervention at the irrigation level may reduce the risk of produce contamination.

New York State Agencies: A Case Study for Analyzing the Process of Legacy System Migration: Part II

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-160
Author(s):  
Ingrid E. Fisher ◽  
Marianne Bradford
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Relational Databases ◽  
Process Management ◽  
New York State ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Legacy System ◽  
York State ◽  
Operational Constraints ◽  
System Migration

Part II of this case chronicles the actions and outcomes of the legacy system migrations of five New York State agencies. The case highlights the problems these agencies encountered in migrating from legacy systems to enterprise-wide systems built upon relational databases. The case also explores the additional complexities of legacy system migration under the unique legal and operational constraints of governmental entities. Investigated issues include business process management, technical and financial project feasibility, cost-benefit analyses, consultant management, and ERP implementations.

Designing and Implementing an E-Government Application

2003 ◽  
pp. 242-255
Author(s):  
Derek Asoh ◽  
Salvatore Belardo ◽  
Jakov Crnkovic
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
New York State ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
York State ◽  
Educational Processes ◽  
New Vision

Today, citizens have grown accustomed to highly customized products and services from private sector firms. As a result, they have begun to demand that government agencies become similarly responsive as well. In order to address the ever-increasing expectations of its citizens, governments will need to become more customer-centric. Some government agencies have begun to do this through such IT-enabled initiatives as e-commerce and e-government. This chapter presents a case study of a successful IT project, MACROS, designed to help implement a new vision of business for state agencies within New York State. This new vision requires greater organizational and system transparency, and a culture of collaboration and sharing that is essential to learning how to better serve citizens. The discussion of the methodology employed in the implementation of this e-government application and the lessons learned lends itself to both traditional and virtual educational processes.

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