County executives meet to discuss suburban problems

Leaders of three of New York's most populous counties outside of New York City met Wednesday to discuss common suburban problems, led by the rising costs of programs mandated by the state even as Albany cuts its share of their costs.

"None of us can afford one more unfunded mandate," Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said. "We want to make that clear."

Unfunded state mandates are requirements Albany puts on local governments to handle, such as certain Medicaid, construction or jail costs, but without providing the needed funding. Last year, for example, Nassau paid the state $203.5 million for Medicaid and Suffolk paid $227 million.

Mangano and his Suffolk counterpart, Steve Levy, and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, met privately in Mangano's office yesterday and later said they discussed high property taxes and ways to be more financially efficient.

"We have many of the same problems. We're looking at solutions to tax relief. We're working to reduce spending by jointly bidding," Mangano said.

The lawmakers called for a meeting with their collective state delegations to Albany to present a united front on their issues.

The trio talked about creating new jobs and modifying an anticipated jump in state pension costs.

Levy said that the Power for Jobs program, which provided hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of discounted electricity or energy rebates to businesses and nonprofit organizations that pledge to produce and sustain jobs within New York, must be continued and expanded.

Astorino said there must be a focus on economic development. "Economic development has to be able to grow," he said. "They must find ways to redesign rules and regulations to help businesses flourish."

Levy, who is a GOP candidate for governor, said pension hikes next year could cost $50 million more to Suffolk and somewhat similar jumps for the other two counties. "That should be broken up over several years," he said.

He also noted that "out of town" tuition for residents last year cost Suffolk $5 million, Nassau $3 million and Westchester $2 million for students at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

"We don't want the state to pay it; just don't make us do it," Levy said.