Steve Bellone: New federal aid allows Suffolk to avert $75 million in budget cuts
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced Wednesday that county officials have reversed plans to make $75 million in staffing and service cuts after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.9-trillion coronavirus relief and stimulus package.
Suffolk is slated to receive $286 million in federal aid through the American Rescue Plan, which President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law Friday.
That aid will allow county officials to avoid layoffs and budget cuts that were scheduled to occur in July.
The planned cuts included elimination of 500 full-time jobs, cancellation of new classes of police recruits, reductions in bus and disability transit services and decreases in funding for community clinics, public health agencies and nonprofits, Bellone said.
"This is a tremendous relief for all of us," Bellone said. "These are devastating cuts, not something that should be happening in a pandemic, and we said that from day one."
The stimulus plan, approved by the Senate Saturday, also will send $397 million to Nassau County.
Nassau officials have not forecast service cuts or job losses. Last year, County Executive Laura Curran ordered across-the-board spending cuts in many county departments.
In December, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, which controls county finances, won approval to refinance hundreds of millions of dollars in county and NIFA debt. The move saved Nassau $435 million for 2020-2022. With the debt pushed into the future, Nassau officials were able to avoid drastic budget cuts. Last week, officials announced a preliminary $75 million surplus for 2020.
"The House’s passage of the stimulus bill is great news for all Americans regardless of your politics," Curran said in a statement. "I’m especially pleased that this bill funds local governments like Nassau County, especially as we continue to man the frontline in our fight to defeat the virus once and for all."
Bellone said he reached a deal with county legislative leaders to avert the planned spending cuts. Legislators likely will have to approve budget amendments in coming weeks to formalize the changes, Presiding Officer Robert Calarco (D-Patchogue) said.
"It's important not only for us in the region, but it's important for our economy," Calarco said.
Bellone proposed the budget cuts in October as the county faced a projected deficit of $437 million over two years.
Bellone said then that more federal aid could help avert cuts, which he pushed until July in hopes the federal money would arrive in time.
The county also received $284 million in U.S. CARES Act funding, which had to be used by the end of 2020.
Residents had urged county legislators to vote against the cuts.
Nonprofits said clients risked losing access to mental health and domestic violenceservices at a time they're more needed than ever.
County and union officials pointed to the importance of their workforce in combating the coronavirus by investigating new cases and connecting residents with services.
"This is a major victory for our workforce and for all Suffolk County residents, and we applaud the County Executive for his steadfast leadership during this unprecedented time," Daniel Levler, president of the county’s largest public employee union, the Association of Municipal Employees, said in a statement.
County lawmakers said they approved the cuts in large part because of the large drop in sales tax revenues, the county’s largest source of revenue, in the spring.
Some also said they were confident the federal government would provide more funding, even though the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress opposed more state and local aid, saying governments would use it to plug budget holes that weren't related to the pandemic.
"We made these drastic cuts and people were looking at us (and thinking), ‘How can you do this to me?’" Minority Leader Legis. Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) said. "It wasn't easy, but I knew that there was light at the end of the tunnel."
With Scott Eidler
Rachelle Blidner covers Suffolk County government, politics and breaking news.
