Cayuga County is authorized by County Law § 400(4)(a)
and the Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1) to create and establish
appointive positions, define their powers and duties, and fix their
terms of office, so long as it is not inconsistent with the New York
State Constitution or general law. Accordingly, the Cayuga County
Legislature hereby finds as follows:
A. Section 550 of the New York State County Law sets forth the duties,
obligations, and authority of the County Treasurer.
B. The New York statutory framework for charge of public funds is becoming
increasingly inadequate in the context of present-day complexities
of municipal accounting and finance.
C. The Legislature finds that it is in the public interest to establish
the Office of the Cayuga County Director of Finance to oversee and
direct the financial affairs of Cayuga County to the extent that the
same does not impinge upon the statutory duties, obligations, and
authority of the Cayuga County Treasurer.
There is hereby established the office of the Cayuga County
Director of Finance, who shall be responsible for the fiscal affairs
of the County and will provide checks and balances on powers and duties
retained by the Treasurer, financial analysis and support to the County
Administrator and/or the County Legislature in the planning, creating,
implementing, and monitoring of the long-term financial programs,
in consultation with the County Treasurer, for the purpose of formulating
policy and establishing procedures with department heads and senior
level staff.
It is the intent of the Legislature that in the event that any
clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this article shall
be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
such judgment, decree or order shall not affect, impair or invalidate
the remainder thereof but shall be confirmed in its operation to the
clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof
directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment, decree
or order shall have been rendered and that the remainder of this article
shall not be affected thereby and shall remain in full force and effect.