Investing in health and farming

Posted 8/21/12

Sullivan County has been in decline for a long time, and some prudent investments might help the county achieve a brighter future. That is the message Dr. Karin Hilgersom has been spreading at …

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Investing in health and farming

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Sullivan County has been in decline for a long time, and some prudent investments might help the county achieve a brighter future. That is the message Dr. Karin Hilgersom has been spreading at various meetings around the county as she tries to build support for a $22 million Healthy World Institute (HWI). Of course, this is the type of message that’s intrinsically difficult to convey: it’s precisely in times of decline that people tend to be most fearful about their pocketbooks and most unwilling to spend money on anything but the most pressing current needs. But though it’s understandable, the cost of such unwillingness might be to make the state of decline a permanent state of affairs.

Hilgersom has been saying that Sullivan County Community College, like the county, is in decline, and the HWI, which would help bring new businesses to the community, is one way to reverse that decline. And she has had an uphill climb making her case.

At a meeting of the county legislature recently, Hilgersom said that attendance at some of the town meetings she has attended to specifically address the issue had been low. At one of them, in the Town of Liberty, one participant questioned why local officials would support the HWI, saying that it would not create jobs.

But Hilgersom argues that, on the contrary, the HWI would create jobs, and at the same time attract new students, including some Sullivan students who are currently attending community college in neighboring counties—at considerable cost to this county. She has been impassioned in her presentations, explaining the need to keep up with other community colleges in the area that are building new facilities. She has said that the bonding required by the county would amount to a tax increase of about $30 per year on a house valued at $200,000.

Hilgersom’s request for funding is not the only one pending that may help reverse the county’s economic decline. Another request for county tax dollars is coming from Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), which wants the county to kick in $55,000 to help fund an employee who would work to preserve and expand the farming sector in the county.

It’s part of an Agricultural Business Retention Program currently being created; the new employee would coordinate that program. The goal would be for the employee to personally visit farms to help in areas such as marketing, make sure farmers know what programs are available to help them and assist them in taking advantage of those programs, and to try to recruit new or young farmers to keep the industry healthy as many current farmers reach retirement age.

It’s been years since there was a person in the county who was responsible for visiting farms on a regular basis and helping to keep that sector healthy and growing. At a recent county meeting, Earl Myers, as a lifelong farmer who serves on the board of CCE, said farming is changing, and while traditional farms such as dairy operations may be fading, there are new opportunities in agriculture, and they need to be nurtured.

Painful as it may be to our pocketbooks in the short term, we believe both these initiatives are worthy of funding. Health and agriculture are two of the three leading industries in the county, with the third being the tourism and second-home industry. Investing in them will, in the long term, generate increased income and a larger tax base that are essential to easing our financial burdens down the road.

It’s true that county legislators face the very real cost of a new county jail in the near future, and there are other capital costs, such as the deteriorating county roads and bridges. But if the casino boosters turn out to be right, Sullivan County’s revenue picture should be improving in the near future, and that might make it easier for some of the county lawmakers to say “yes” to funding of the health and agriculture sectors. The county should not put all of its eggs in one basket and count only on the casino and tourism to bring future economic benefits.

At least one legislator, Gene Benson, told The River Reporter he believes both efforts will gain legislative approval.

We hope that’s true, that the legislature will vote for the additional staffer for CCE, and for the HWI at the college. Now is the right time for an investment in the future of Sullivan County. Let your legislators know you think so, too.

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