Bellone task force to eye budget deficits

County Executive Steve Bellone Thursday named a six-member task force -- heavily weighted with New York City and state fiscal experts -- to provide an independent assessment of Suffolk's budget deficits for this year and next.

Bellone named the task force to "clear the air" over the extent of the county's fiscal woes in the aftermath of the bitter budget battle between former County Executive Steve Levy and county lawmakers last fall.

Bellone said the task force will work with the county treasurer, comptroller, legislative budget analysts and his own budget office to come up with a consensus on the deficit.

"What's significant is . . . we're working on the same page to figure out the extent of the financial problems," Bellone said. His picks all are "people with significant and deep municipal finance experience and background," he said. Their assessment is expected within a month.

The panelists are:

Former New York City Deputy Mayor Nathan Leventhal, now a board member of funds managed by the Dreyfus Corp.

Stuart Klein, former first deputy director of the city's Office of Management and Budget.

Richard Halverson, assistant deputy director of the New York City Financial Control Board in the 1970s and a resident of Hampton Bays.

Michael Solomon, a member of the New York Citizens Budget Commission, an independent watchdog group. He is director of public finance for Ramirez & Co., one of the nation's oldest minority-owned investment banking firms.

Edward Moneypenny, of Southampton, who has served as chief fiscal officer for a number of private companies.

Charles Stein, a former deputy county executive for finance in both Nassau and Suffolk. Stein, of Setauket, retired in 2009 as vice president of finance for Suffolk Community College.

Asked about the makeup of the panel, Legis. Edward Romaine (R-Center Moriches) said, "It might seem city-centric, but sometimes people from the outside can look at old problems with new eyes and come up with solutions."

Levy said the new administration is trying to portray "doom and gloom so it will not be blamed if they lay people off or raise taxes."

During budget deliberations, Levy said his $2.7 billion budget was balanced. He called for layoffs of 710 county employees unless unions agreed to concessions. Lawmakers said his budget had a hole of more than $100 million, but balked at shutting down the county nursing home and reduced the number of layoffs to 88. Their amended budget funds the county for only the first six months of 2012 to give Bellone time for midyear fixes.

"We all agree there's a looming deficit and it's a question of magnitude," said Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook). "The more difficult task is to figure out how to fill it."