In the wake of the party-line vote that enabled passage of County Executive Edward Mangano’s $2.63 billion 2012 budget this week, opponents of the budget expressed doubts this week about its viability.
The county budget, based on plans to shutter two police precincts and force major monetary concessions from unions, passed on Sunday night with all 11 Republican representatives in the county Legislature voting for it as all eight Democrats voted against it.
“This is a budget that relies on borrowing and slashing to achieve balance in theory only,” said Legislator Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn). “Unfortunately, to cover the deficit the county executive himself projected, they’re relying exclusively on borrowing to pay for operating expenses and forced union concessions that seem to be unattainable.”
Wink and his Democratic colleagues proposed $310 million in budget cuts last week and amendments that included a restoration of $25 million to keep all police precincts open and $40 million in union concessions with no layoffs.
The Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state authority that has oversight of the country’s finances, reversed a position it had taken against the county borrowing to balance its books, agreeing last week to permit Mangano to borrow $450 million over the next four years. NIFA’s reversal is based on the county administration extracting $150 million in concessions from its Civil Service Employees Association, with Mangano threatening to implement layoffs or furloughs as an alternative.
The county budget deficit is projected to be as high as $300 million next year.
Wink described the budget as “a disaster waiting to happen.”
“The borrowing is what got us in trouble in the first place,” Wink said.
Wink said he expects NIFA will examine the $150 million in proposed union wage and benefit cuts. He said he expected that NIFA would keep Mangano “on a very short leash.”
Civil Service Employees Association President Jerry Laricchiuta called the budget “simply unrealistic.”
“To achieve $150 million in savings, each CSEA member would have to give up $12,000 per year, and pay $4,500 in health insurance. Those figures are simply not feasible for our modestly paid employees, many of them making in the area of $30,000 per year,” Laricchiuta said in a statement.
Approximately 55 percent of the 6,000 union members are currently earning less than $50,000 annually, according to CSEA spokesman Ryan Mulholland.
Mulholland said the union offered Mangano what he described as “creative solutions” in a $54 million concession plan in a series of meetings prior to Sunday night’s budget vote.
“We’ve done our part. We’ve offered concessions,” Mulholland said.
Mulholland said the union supported budget amendments proposed by the Democratic legislative minority last week, including $44 million in labor concessions, largely based on consolidating job responsibilities, and using $56 million from the county reserve fund.
Police Benevolent Association President James Carver said the Democrats’ proposed amendments – which included keeping all police precincts open – “were tough choices to make, but they kept public safety intact.”
Carver said Mangano should have revealed which precincts were targeted for closure before Election Day. And he also slammed the $150 million in proposed labor cuts that would translate into $25,000 in police officer’s salaries.
“That’s an unreasonable goal for the county to achieve,” Carver said.
Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) said that although union concessions are needed, essential county services must be maintained.
“I really do believe that concessions from the union are necessary. But we can’t compromise public safety,” she said. “And you can’t hold a gun to people’s heads and say do it or else.”
Bosworth expressed concern about the budget being contingent on getting $150 million in concessions from the labor unions. She also expressed concern that the $103 million budgeted for the privatized Long Island Bus is significantly less than the annual $145 million the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the service had cost to maintain over the past three years.
“We’re the ones who are at risk for that $42 million,” Bosworth said.
Legislator RIchard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said it would be “difficult” to get $150 million in concessions from the unions, but said any savings that could be realized from county employees would help alleviate pressure on county finances.
“To the extent that [Mangano] can achieve savings that cuts into that number, we can avoid some of the layoffs,” he said.
Nicolello said that there was “no question” that Mangano will need to “aggressively manage” the 2012 budget.
In a statement after the budget passed, Mangano the financial package “tough medicine” as an antidote to “decades of poor fiscal policies.”
Mangano said the budget offered union leaders a chance “to avoid the severity of extensive layoffs and unpaid furloughs.”
Mangano has said as many as 700 county workers could be laid off in January in the absence of union concessions. Closing down two county police precincts would prompt layoffs of approximately 80 police officers.
The Legislature’s presiding officer, Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) defended the budget, citing the absence of a tax increase.
“This is not a feel-good budget, but it is a budget that is real,” Schmitt said. “One that deals with the problems of the county and will begin to move the county in a direction that will ultimately ensure long-term fiscal solvency without any additional tax burden on our residents.”
