Updated 12/12/2012 12:18 AM
Legislators Approve MCC Bond Vote & Budget
It was a long night at the Monroe County Legislature. Up for debate and vote Tuesday night was County Executive Maggie Brooks' proposed budget for 2013 and the Monroe Community College bonding resolution.
Legislators approved both.
After more than four hours of debate, the billion dollar budget passed. It's the first billion dollar budget in Monroe County history. Legislators voted along party lines, 18 Republicans to 11 Democrats.
The process started around 6 p.m. Tuesday and was heavily debated as legislators reviewed the budget line by line.
One proposal that sparked a lot of debate concerned the Indigent Burial Program. The county provides up to $1,250 for costs associated with cremation and burial for the poor.
County Democrats and some local homeless supporters called for restoring $600 per case to the Indigent Burial Fund, but two separate amendments to the budget proposal were voted down 11 to 18 on a GOP party line.
Around midnight, legislators unanimously approved the MCC bonding resolution. It allows MCC to redevelop its current downtown campus at the Sibley Building, or to build a new campus at the Kodak site, which is what the MCC board has indicated it would prefer.