By MIKE CAPUTO and MIKE RUSSO
The alternative, Suozzi said, may be deep cuts and/or layoffs in county programs servicing youth boards, senior citizens and day care. County police may be cut as well, along with aid to villages. Sales taxes may have to be expanded.
"Nassau County's budget took a body blow - a stake to the heart," Suozzi said of the reeling economy. "Things are as bad as they can be."
Much of the budget shortfall can be attributed to less-than-anticipated sales tax revenue. Because of weak sales during the holiday season, Suozzi explained, the county is projected to experience a 1 percent decline in sales tax revenue for 2008 - about 3 percent, or $35 million, below the initial projection for the year. This was the first time in 20 years that sales tax revenue declined.
The county, which just six months ago projected a sales tax revenue increase of 2.5 percent for 2009, had reduced that estimate to just 0.5 percent before the Legislature approved its budget in October. Since some economists are projecting an even larger decline in sales tax revenue for 2009, Suozzi said the county can expect no growth or an even greater shortfall.
County comptroller Howard Weitzman described the county's sales tax receipts as being in "free fall." "These numbers are real and the challenges are many," said Weitzman. "Making up this shortfall will require sacrifice by all. Spending must be slashed further to the extent new revenues cannot be identified."
That fact was particularly distressing, Suozzi added, because the county's budget is funded more by sales tax than property taxes. He said there would be no additional increases in property taxes.
A three-part plan to close the anticipated $150 million budget gap included the possibility of laying off 10 percent of the county's work force while also incorporating a shutdown of county operations for as many as 26 days a year. County offices and facilities would be closed, or operate on a shorter work day, at certain times of the year. The layoffs would include 250 police officers, 100 corrections officers, 320 civil service employees and non-union workers. They would save $55 million, but bring about the closing of parks and a decrease in maintenance and services.
During a Tuesday press briefing, Suozzi announced that county Parks Department managers have been informed that they must begin devising plans to close their parks. Eisenhower Park would remain open, but it was unclear at press time whether services there would be impacted.
Suozzi also announced on Tuesday that Saturday visitation hours at the Nassau County Correctional Facility in East Meadow would be eliminated. Other visitation hours throughout the week would be altered, reducing total visitation hours from 60 hours per week to 40. The need for meal relief officers for certain assignments at the facility will also be eliminated, Suozzi said, which will result in less inmate movement within the facility at certain hours.
Suozzi said the layoffs and the shutdown could be avoided if all county employees accepted a 7-percent pay. He said he understands that workers obviously will not want to give up part of their pay, but in such desperate times, the pay cut is necessary, and he urged unions to talk with workers before responding to the county's proposal.
The second part of Suozzi's proposal relies on the proposed federal stimulus package, which, if approved by Congress, would include about $50 million in savings for Nassau County for the state's Medicaid program.
The third part of the plan would take advantage of three major initiatives currently under consideration in the state Legislature: the installation of cameras at stoplights around the county; changes in ticket processing surcharges, with the county keeping more of the revenue instead of passing it on to the state; and the imposition of a cigarette tax, like those already in effect in New York City and Suffolk County. Those savings would apply $30 million to the $150 budget gap, Suozzi estimated.
If the Legislature fails to approve those three items, Suozzi said, the alternative would be the elimination of or deep cuts in county-funded programs like the Youth Board; day care salary enhancement; senior citizens services; drug, alcohol and mental health programs; Cornell Cooperative Extension; and aid to villages. The county would also add a sales tax to home heating oil, a measure that Suozzi has avoided but that is in place in many other counties across the state, including Suffolk.
"I do not want to lay off workers in the middle of a recession," Suozzi said. "I do not like the idea of closing senior centers and parks, or imposing a tax on home heating oil. But this is the reality that we face if we don't get the help we need from Nassau County's employee unions. Let us agree that [pay cuts] would be a better way. Together, we can solve this problem. Together, we can make it through."
Comments about this story? MCaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
