After a long, bumpy road, the final word has been spoken on the dispute between York County Commissioners and the county budget committee ”“ hopefully.
A York County Superior Court judge ruled recently that the York County Budget Committee must be free to work independently of the commissioners, voiding their censure. The judge also ruled that commissioners cannot enforce a county ethics policy on the budget committee.
The case dates back to early 2013, when commissioners and county officials sent on a newly inked ethics policy to the budget committee’s members for their signatures. They refused to sign the document due to a clause that they said would allow commissioners to overturn budget committee votes. The budget committee then adopted its own ethics policy and disclosures, which mirrored the county’s policy with the exception of that clause.
Budget committee members have maintained all along that because the body was formed by an act of the Legislature in 1993, the commissioners do not have the authority to tell them who can and cannot vote on budget items.
Tensions only rose when the commissioners voted to censure the budget committee in July, after they failed to sign the county’s version of the ethics policy. At the July 10 meeting, commissioners voted 4-1 to censure the budget committee. Censure is a public reprimand.
Later that month, the York County Budget Committee appealed the censure by commissioners in York County Superior Court.
Since that time, both groups have been awaiting a decision, and thankfully, that day has come.
Now that a judge has given an official ruling on the issue, we hope all of the members of the budget committee and commissioners can put it behind them and move forward.
In addition to the censure and appeal, there were other problems between the two groups, with the recurring theme of commissioners overstepping their bounds in relation to the budget committee and its authority. Now a judge has said the commissioners must allow the budget committee to work freely and independently, and we hope they will take that to heart and make an effort to improve relations with them.
It’s important that everyone involved in county business get back to doing the work they were elected or appointed to do, because it’s sure to be another difficult legislative and budget year. With all of the issues facing York County and its municipalities, infighting between county boards is definitely not necessary.
It’s good to finally have this issue resolved, and we hope it doesn’t need to be dealt with again.
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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham Rousseau on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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