AUBURN - David Miller, director of the Cayuga County Department of Planning and Economic Development, is in the midst of his last budget proposal.

Miller retires Jan. 1, 2006 which, in turn, will reduce the department's 2006 budget proposal by close to $1,500. Miller was the only staff member to qualify for sick time buybacks.

Yet this expense is only a portion of Miller's proposed 2006 reductions, which the county's planning and economic committee passed unanimously Monday night. The department's entire budget will decrease from $514,260 to $495,863 - an $18,397 difference.

Miller attributes the difference primarily to a reduction in fringe benefits. There has been a decrease in workers compensation, and charges for people taking early retirement have expired, Miller said.

Additionally, the county is not participating in the hazardous household waste program in 2006.

Miller will meet with Legislature chairman and county budget officer Herb Marshall on Friday, Sept. 30 to discuss the proposals, which also include numbers for water quality management, promotion of industry and the agricultural protection board.

Cornell Cooperative Extension also presented its budget proposal. Interim executive director Judy Wright asked the county for $263,000, a request that has remained unchanged since 2003.

Legislators unanimously approved the county's share, which accounts for 31 percent of the extension's funding.

Representatives from the Soil and Water Conservation District were not present. The district's proposal will be reviewed next week.

In other news:

- The planning and economic development committee unanimously voted to transfer $10,000 from the contingency fund to the Promotion of Industry budget. The money will be used by the county's public utility agency to distribute educational information about a November public referendum concerning a 1984 local law.

The referendum would amend the law so that the county power agency and its Auburn equivalent could better cooperate.

Legislators had questioned whether or not it was necessary to spend money on a referendum that some said had little chance of failing. But the committee decided $10,000 wasn't a great expense to ensure that the agency would save people money in the long run.

"I think if we don't say something, it will send a louder message than if we do," said Paul Dudley, R-Cato.

Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net