Rockland Lawmakers Vote Funds for Nonprofits Left out of 2017 Budget

NEW CITY, NY – Rockland County Legislators voted 10-4 to fund 31 nonprofit Public Benefit Organizations for the first half of 2017 on the same day that the County Executive proposed a 3-point funding plan for the nonprofits left out of the 2017 budget.

SEE: Day Challenges Lawmakers to Help Fund Nonprofits

Lawmakers said their move would allow the public benefit organizations to know they will have money coming in to pay their bills and provide time to identify additional funding to cover the second half of the year.

But Day said the move could increase the deficit.

A total of $673,941 was authorized to be paid to the public benefit organizations from 2016 dollars. Most of the funding is coming from two contingency accounts in the 2016 budget. The balance comes from unspent funds in the Legislature’s budget.

“These organizations are being funded with real dollars,” Legislature Chairman Alden H. Wolfe said in a press statement. “Those who support the funding have made a decision to back local organizations that do tremendous good throughout our county.”

Citing a study by the Institute for Non-Profits, Wolfe said the organizations not only provide direct services to local residents, but have a tremendous impact on the local economy – about $1 billion annually.

Collectively, nonprofits in Rockland employ about 9,000 people whose work helps prevents everything from incarceration to hospitalization while also nurturing a rich fabric of arts and history, according to the study.

“For every dollar they are funded by the county, many non-profits are able to generate up to $3 in additional funding, including through matching grants,” Wolfe said. “These organizations deliver powerful results.”

Legislator Harriet Cornell (D-West Nyack) said virtually all of the nonprofit organizations funded by the county were started by everyday residents to meet a specific need in our community.

“These organizations were born of great need and often few dollars, but the people behind them never lost hope and never gave up in trying to create a response to the many needs of our community,” Cornell said.

She cited services for the developmentally disabled, the visually impaired or those grappling with mental illness; child care opportunities so that single mothers or two-working-parent households had a safe and nurturing place for their children; support for senior citizens and youth; commitments to the environment through cleaner streets, air and water; and meeting the growing demands from a diverse community for the arts and history, music, dance, theater – quenching the thirst for these activities locally versus forcing people – and their money - to search and spend outside the county.

“It would be a loss to both the economics and the quality of life of Rockland County to lose these valuable agencies,” Cornell said. “They provide services at low cost and utilize volunteers for the betterment of all of us.”

Three legislators were absent from the meeting: Jay Hood (D-Haverstraw), Laurie Santulli (R-Congers), and Charles Falciglia (R-Suffern).

The legislators casting nay votes were Lon Hofstein (R-New City), Patrick Moroney (R-Pearl River), Vincent Tyer (R-Pearl River) and Cris Carey (R-Bardonia.).

The legislators casting aye votes were Harriet Cornell (D-West Nyack), Toney Earl (D-Hillcrest), Michael Grant (D-Garnerville), Doug Jobson (R-Stony Point), Nancy Low-Hogan (D-South Nyack), Aney Paul (D-Nanuet), Ilan Schoenberger (D-Wesley Hills), Phil Soskin (D-Monsey), Aron Wieder (D-Spring valley), and Alden Wolfe (D-Montebello).

The County Executive can veto the measure. Legislators would need 12 votes to override the veto.