Schneiderman and Levy Spar Over Budget Practices

The South Fork’s representative in the Suffolk County Legislature is at odds with the county executive, accusing him of using budget gimmicks “to propel himself to Albany.”

But Executive Steve Levy, a past candidate for governor, fired back Wednesday, saying Legislator Jay Schneiderman’s accusation is “not only flat out wrong; it’s entirely hypocritical." He also vowed to vigorously fight two bills Schneiderman is proposing.

Schneiderman, I-Montauk, said Wednesday that Levy is filling holes in the budget year after year with one-time revenue generators, such as selling county properties, and the budget model is unsustainable.

He compared Levy’s one-off revenue generators to a mortgage holder staying afloat with garage sales. “You can have garage sales every week, but at some point you sold all your furniture, you sold your car, you sold everything. Eventually you lose your house.”

He filed a bill Monday that would cap the amount of non-recurring revenue that could be included in the county budget. “My bill allows you to continue using non-recurring revenues, but if you’re going to continue to do this you’re going to need to have a mitigation plan,” he said.

Schneiderman said Levy is also increasingly borrowing to pay for expenditures typically paid for in the annual budget.

The “gimmicks” are being employed so Levy can claim he did not raise taxes for short-term political purposes, according to Schneiderman.

As his chief examples, Schneiderman cited the sale of 95 acres of county land in Yaphank and the closure and sale of the county owned John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility, also in Yaphank.

“The public shouldn’t believe a big spending legislator,” Levy retorted. “They should look at the independent bond rating agencies, which have given Suffolk its highest bond rating ever under my tenure.”

“To epitomize Jay’s hypocrisy: He is complaining about borrowing, but in 2010 he voted for every single one for the 150 bond resolutions except for two,” he added.

Levy acknowledged the land sale would net $12 million for the county in one fell swoop that would not recur, but said it is but a small fraction of a $2.7 billion county budget and the private entrepreneur purchasing the land will build the largest alternative energy site in the nation. In regard to the nursing home, he said closing the facility would eliminate $8 million to $10 million a year in operating losses.

Most of his biggest budgetary moves since entering office have resulted in recurring savings, not one-time deals, Levy said. He noted $3.5 million in annual savings by privatizing the county HMO, $12 million by requiring county employees to take generic drugs instead of name brands, $10 million by civilianizing some functions of the county police department and $10 million to $12 million by replacing police officers on highway patrol with deputy sheriffs who are paid less than cops.

The executive said he was suspicious of Schneiderman’s comments during an election cycle, suggesting the legislator is trying to paint himself as a fiscal conservative since he left the Republican Party in 2008 to become an Independent.

 “Jay can’t have it both ways,” Levy said. He said Schneiderman cannot vote in favor of the budget then bash it, complain that the county isn’t hiring enough people then advocate less spending, and vote in favor of bonds for open space acquisitions, East End roads and new college buildings then deride borrowing.

But Schneiderman said the legislature had no choice but to accept Levy’s one-shot deals. “We’ve had our back up against the wall budgetarily,” he said. “We can’t take them out because we can’t close the holes. We try, but the county executive relies so much on this.”

Veto Threat Looms Over Schneiderman-Sponsored Bills

Levy was sharply critical of two other bills Schneiderman recently proposed, one to allow the legislature to make budget amendments at every meeting, rather than just four times a year, and a second limiting executive discretion over closing county facilities and abolishing departments. He said he would veto the resolutions should the legislature pass them.

“At a time when we need to be controlling spending, he puts in a bill that will allow the legislature to amend the budget at every session to spend more money,” Levy said, adding that the second bill severely limits the executive’s power to cut more spending.

Schneiderman said Levy mischaracterized both bills.

The first bill would not permit the legislature to add spending to the budget, he said. Rather, it would allow for moving money around when necessary. For example, he said if the public works department needs more money for snow removal, it has to be taken from someplace else in the budget. Additionally, he said it would allow for more frequent spending cuts. “All it does is give us flexibility in a very challenging financial environment.”

Schneiderman said he introduced the bill regarding closing county facilities because while he is in favor of selling the Foley nursing home — he said he does not think county government should be in the nursing home business — he opposes the process used to force the sale. He said Levy is defunding the nursing home with just six legislators on his side because those are all he needs to avoid an override of his veto of a budget that includes nursing home operations.

 “That bill doesn’t do anything that the Suffolk County charter doesn’t already require,” Schneiderman said, insisting the county executive doesn’t have the power to deny funding for something the legislature hasn’t agreed to terminate.

“The county executive, he wasn’t elected dictator.”