Chairman Wolfe Calls County Executive's Proposed Cuts "Destructive"

Rockland County Legislature Chairman Alden H. Wolfe said that his initial analysis of the 2015 budget proposal by County Executive Day raises concerns that the most needy citizens of the County will be disproportionately harmed by the cuts of fundamental services. “Our County faces difficult challenges, but we must cut with a scalpel - not a chainsaw - so that we don’t create higher expenses in the long run. Vital programs to promote health and safety save millions of dollars in the long run, while economic development brings money in, which saves taxpayer dollars.”

Day proposes to eliminate funding for contract agencies, regardless of the services the agency provides. Wolfe says that at best, these cuts threaten the survival of many important agencies and that as a result of the cuts, many critical services will be impacted. “For decades, Rockland County has depended upon our contract agencies to supplement government services, to serve as partners by providing valuable, cost-effective services to Rocklanders who are struggling,” said Chairman Wolfe. “Affordable childcare enables parents to start careers; prevention of domestic violence has been proven to improve a woman’s ability to support her family. What’s most baffling is the decision to slash funding to the Rockland Economic Development Corporation (REDC), the very agency that is charged with bringing business and industry to Rockland County. Under REDC’s leadership, major firms including Hunter Douglas, Raymour & Flanigan, Bloomberg L.P., Fed Ex Ground, Anellotech, the Martin Group, Protein Sciences, ABCO, and Nice-Pak/PDL Par Pharmaceutical are on track to invest more than $500 million in Rockland. The County has gained over 3,000 jobs with unemployment falling from 7.4 percent in 2013 to 4.8 percent September 2014. Why on earth would we cut REDC’s funding?”

“Of equal concern is the County Executive’s proposal to cut 37 patrol positions in the Office of the Rockland County Sheriff. Elimination of those positions reaches deeper into the department’s services than the County Executive has stated and in order to fill the void, costs will be passed on to local police departments, raising taxes in our towns and villages. Again, cuts must be surgical. With new threats to our public safety emerging every day, now is the worst possible time to compromise our policing ability.”

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Wolfe concluded by saying that, “The Legislature’s role in addressing our deficit, cutting hundreds of positions and restoring conservative budgeting practices shows that we understand that difficult decisions must be made, however County government exists to serve and protect our community. We will keep this in mind as we work our way through the budget review process.”

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