Lindsay: Proposed Suffolk budget out of whack

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's proposed $2.7 billion budget is out of balance by $125 million, and the hole is so big the county legislature may not be able to forestall Levy's proposed 700 layoffs, Presiding Officer William Lindsay said Tuesday.

Lindsay (D-Holbrook) and five other members of the budget working committee said their preliminary analysis of the budget indicates Levy overestimated revenue by $90 million -- one-third of it sales tax -- and underestimated by $35 million expenses including police overtime and payouts connected with layoffs.

"We've always been able to fix the county executive's budget, but this year, it is such a heavy lift, I don't know if we can do it," Lindsay said.

Levy, a Republican, maintained that his budget is balanced and does not rely on speculative revenue, and said he will impose layoffs if there are no union concessions.

"For eight years, I have frozen taxes, and for eight years, legislators have made their same claim," Levy said in a statement. "Mr. Lindsay is cagily crafting an excuse so they can raise taxes for a new county executive and claim they had no choice."

The budget committee, which recommends a package of amendments to the county executive's budget, held its news conference without its two Republicans -- minority leader John Kennedy of Nesconset and Legis. Lynne Nowick of St. James.

Kennedy said he and Nowick had scheduling conflicts, but that he was sending "no message" by his absence.

"This is unlike any prior year's budget. There's an awful lot of holes and shortfalls," he said.

Kennedy added that there was "no logic" for some layoffs, including elimination of jobs in the labor department that are 100 percent federally funded.