Referendum on Relocation of Ulster County Family Court

The November 8th Election Day Ballot will include the following Proposition:

“In order to improve services to the children and families of Ulster County, reduce the need to raise property taxes, and satisfy state mandates, the County of Ulster proposes to relocate the current leased site of the Ulster County Family Court, located at 16 Lucas Avenue in the City of Kingston, County of Ulster, State of New York, to a more suitable county owned property situated less than 800 feet from the City of Kingston line, located at 1 Development Court, Ulster Avenue in the Town of Ulster, County of Ulster, State of New York. Shall this proposition be approved?”

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Q: Why does the County have to take any action with the Family Court facility?

     A: 1) The County is legally required to provide suitable and sufficient court facilities for the transaction of business pursuant to New York State Judiciary Law §39(3)(a).
          2) The New York State Office of Court Administration (NYSOCA) has deemed the current leased space at 16 Lucas Avenue, Kingston, inadequate and inefficient to properly accommodate the current workload and the projected future workload of the Court and has directed Ulster County to find a larger, more secure and more efficient space to meet today’s Family Court needs.
          3) NYSOCA is opposed to the status quo for a multitude of reasons (see attached NYSOCA Letter), and if the County does nothing the State could well withhold State aid.
          4) In 2015, New York State added an additional Family Court Judge and staff to help handle the average 8,486 cases per year.

2) Q: What are the County’s alternatives?

     A: 1) Renovate the existing space and construct an addition on a facility which the County does not own;
          2) Purchase a new property and build courtrooms, offices and other needed components; or
          3) Renovate an existing building that the County already owns.

3) Q: Why not renovate the existing facility?

     A: 1) The current building that houses the Family Court on Lucas Avenue in Kingston has been leased by Ulster County since 1986. In the last 10 years alone the County has spent in excess of $4.1 million in rent, property taxes and maintenance.
          2) The County would be spending a large amount of taxpayer dollars to improve a property owned by a private company if it were to remain at the leased Lucas Avenue facility. Multi-million dollar renovations would include building an addition onto the current facility. Any addition would also further limit available parking.
          3) From an economic development prospective, this move will provide opportunities for additional private sector businesses in Uptown Kingston by freeing up space which is in high demand while helping reduce current parking congestion. (See attached Parking Demand Analysis).

4) Q: Why relocate to the Business Resource Center on Ulster Avenue?

     A: 1) The County working with its consultant has determined that the Business Resource Center (BRC) represents the most cost effective alternative. It is less than half the cost of other alternatives as the County already owns the BRC which is located on Ulster Avenue in the Town of Ulster where the facility is proposed to be relocated (see attached Cost Comparison Chart). There would be no acquisition cost. There is currently more than enough suitable space within this building to accommodate Family Court’s current and future needs. There is approximately 30,000 sq. ft. of vacant space at the BRC, much of which became available when SUNY Ulster was relocated from the Town of Ulster to the City of Kingston at the former Sophie Finn School on Mary’s Avenue adjacent to Kingston High School.
          2) In 2016 and thereafter, it is anticipated that the County taxpayers will spend a minimum of $394,000 annually to satisfy lease obligations at the Lucas Avenue site, including rent, taxes and annual maintenance. If Family Court operations are moved to the BRC, these rental costs will offset a large portion of the renovation costs thereby reducing the need to raise property taxes.
          3) The BRC location is easily accessible, offers adequate parking, is already in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act   and is located directly on the Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT) and Citibus routes with service numerous times per day. (See attached Planner’s Memorandum).
          4) While the BRC is renovated, the Family Court can continue to operate in its current location with no disruption in services to clients or court operations.
         5) Locating Family Court next to the Department of Social Services (DSS) will create new synergies and efficiencies as staff from the County’s children and family services programs as well as other personnel appear in Family Court regularly.   More importantly, the move to the BRC will result in improved services to the children and families in Ulster County.
         6) Moving the Family Court operations to the BRC will take advantage of an underutilized County owned property and both the location and the initial concept layout are highly recommended by the New York State office of Court Administration (See attached Design for Proposed Location at BRC).

5) Q: Why is a public referendum required to move?

A: 1) Section 216 of County Law requires a public referendum when a Court is relocated beyond the City limits where it currently exists. Thus, although the BRC, the proposed relocation site, is less than 800 feet outside the City of Kingston’s border in the Town of Ulster the law requires that a public referendum be held (see attached Relocation Map). To view the referendum as it will appear on the ballot on Election Day on November 8, 2016 please see above or to view related documents please see the attachments below.

6) Q: Why not build an entirely new facility?

A: 1) The cost to purchase property suitable in size for a family court plus provide sufficient parking as well as fund site work and new construction of a roughly 30,000 sq. ft. building, is likely to add millions to the cost and would greatly delay the much needed changes to family court operations. By renovating the existing structure at the BRC, project costs would be reduced and the completion of the project can be expedited.
2) If the County were to purchase property it would need to be in the City of Kingston or a referendum would still be required. Any real property that the County purchased would be removed from of the property tax rolls, thereby negatively affecting all taxpayers.

7) Q: Why not utilize the Alms House on Flatbush Avenue?

     A: 1) The Alms House is ill suited to house court facilities. Its interior bearing walls make creating adequate courtroom space extremely difficult. The location of stairs and elevator create internal security issues for court personnel and clients. Access into the building is hampered by grade changes between parking and building entrances. Renovations would be extensive and are likely to threaten the integrity of the building’s historic architecture.
        2) As an older building, the Alms House would have much higher ongoing maintenance costs and is neither energy efficient nor fully ADA compliant.
         3) The Flatbush Avenue location is poorly served by public transit. Only a single Citibus route passes the site and no UCAT service is available at the site.

8) Q: Why not relocate elsewhere in the City of Kingston?

A: 1) Relocating elsewhere would be difficult and costly as there are limited available properties that would meet the requirements for a court facility. Additionally, it would result in the County having to acquire property while incurring the expenses of site preparation and renovations. It would also remove the property from the tax rolls in the City of Kingston. Further, it would cause significant time delays which would increase costs and would most likely burden the property taxpayers.

9) Q: What are the projected costs of renovating other County-owned sites compared to the BRC?

     A: 1) The projected costs to renovate one of the other County-owned buildings such as the Alms House, the old Jail Facility or the Mental Health Building, range from over $20 million to over $30 million.
          2) The projected costs for the construction of a new building are estimated to be over $20 million.
          3) The projected costs for renovating the Business Resource Center is estimated to be less than $10 million, making it the most cost-effective option that meets the requirements of a quality court facility while protecting Ulster County property taxpayers (See attached Cost Comparison Chart).

For more information regarding the proposed relocation of the Ulster County Family Court please view the items below: