Legislature Passes Local Laws Proposed by Chairman Wolfe

The Rockland County Legislature passed two local laws sponsored by Chairman Alden H. Wolfe at its June 16th meeting that will add further transparency to the annual County Budget process and ensure that Legislators will have an accurate picture of department needs during the budget process period that takes place from October to December of each year.

The respective laws will require:

· Printed and electronic versions of the adopted annual County budget will include the report by the Legislature’s Budget and Finance Committee that details the committee’s budget recommendations and the veto message by the County Executive (if any) that details additions or deletions, unless overridden by the Legislature.

· Legislative approval to fill a vacant position during the budget process period between October 1st and December 20th of each year.

Chairman Wolfe explained, “The inclusion of the committee’s report and the veto messages from the County Executive will provide the public with a complete story of how the final budget came to be. Further, filling vacant positions during the budget process can skew our evaluation of a department, its needs and employee head count. A position, thought to be vacant, could be abolished as a cost-saving measure, placing that employee at risk. These are common sense measures that would heighten transparency and certainty in the budget process.”

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