Carey Proposes Rockland County Budget Compromise as Vote Looms on 2015 Spending Plan

The possibility of a budget compromise has Rockland County officials thinking.

Now county Legislator Chris Carey (R-Bardonia) has offered a compromise to the controversial 2015 spending proposal by Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

Carey’s changes would cut just 12 positions in the Patrol Unit, instead of 37; and cut just 25 percent of the funding for nonprofits that have county contracts, instead of all if it. Carey said his version would still come in under the state’s 2 percent tax cap.

“This compromise will achieve the goals of saving jobs and funding critical services, while holding property taxes to two-percent,” said Carey, the Minority Leader, in a press release. “Most importantly, this plan will not jeopardize the fiscal integrity of the County, as we work together to improve our finances.”

Day released a statement in response:

My sincere thanks to Legislator Carey for offering a bipartisan compromise that continues Rockland County on a path toward fiscal integrity. It saves jobs, provides funding for contract agencies and holds property taxes to the state-mandated two-percent cap. While this proposal isn’t perfect, it’s a firm step in the right direction that can hopefully serve as a foundation for continued bipartisan work.

Rockland is considered the most “fiscally stressed” county in New York by the state Comptroller’s Office. The financial crisis stretches back years—the deficit was $95 million in 2012; Moody’s dowgraded the county’s credit rating in 2013; by the time Day took office Jan. 1 2014 the deficit was upwards of $145 million—and much of the work of the county government this year has been on fiscal matters, including the sale of a $96 million deficit financing bond.

Day’s $772 million spending plan for 2015 includes eliminating the Patrol Division of the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department—a proposal which drew immediate fire from County Sheriff Louis Falco III and police union officials.

Day, a former police officer himself, said his plan served two functions—to cut county spending and to respond to the ”Operational Analysis of the Police Division of the Rockland County Sheriff” authored by Rockland County resident Louis R. Anemone.

“All proposed reductions to the Sheriff’s Office are consistent with recommendations offered in an expert independent assessment of the department’s non-mandated road patrol division,” he said.

Anemone rejected a request by County Legislator Jay Hood to attend the Nov. 25 Public Safety Committee meeting of the legislature to answer questions about his report—a response which Hood (R-Haverstraw) decried as lacking accountability and transparency.

The Rockland County Times reported that Falco disliked Carey’s compromise, saying he was not willing to accept any cuts in personnel.

The County Legislature is considering a vote to override the tax cap for the 2015 budget. It will hold a public hearing on that and other fiscal issues at its Dec. 2 meeting.

Editor’s Note: Chris Carey is a Republican; his party affiliation was incorrect in the original version of this article. Patch regrets the error.