steve bellone runs suffolk cty like trustee kevin mccaffrey

runs the teamsters local 707 pension fund

blaming the corona virus/the stock market is no justification for business as usual to the detriment of the public and a carte blanche check from the feds

suffolk otb employees  at the top are overpaid  because that is show biz

LONG ISLANDPOLITICSWATCHDOG

Suffolk officials: $800 million budget shortfall could mean job cuts

Suffolk County Budget Director Eric Naughton offers testimony in August 2017.   Credit: Howard Schnapp 

By Rachelle Blidnerrachelle.blidner@newsday.com   @rachelleblidner Updated June 16, 2020 6:12 PM

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Suffolk County budget officials said Tuesday that “everything is on the table” to address an expected shortfall of at least $800 million, including potential layoffs, park closures and other spending cuts.

Budget officials said county legislators could consider laying off 200 employees, delaying employee paychecks and seeking tax increases as the coronavirus has caused revenues to plummet.

Cuts would likely impact services, said Eric Naughton, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s budget director. They could include closing parks, cutting bus routes and reviewing payments to contract agencies.

“There will have to be reductions and they will be painful,” Naughton told the County Legislature’s budget and finance committee.

Suffolk is expected to lose $807 million through 2021 as high unemployment, lower consumer spending and reduced commuting is expected to cut into the county’s largest revenue streams, the legislature’s Budget Review Office said Tuesday. That projection does not include the impact of a potentialsecond economic shutdown.

Lance Reinheimer, the budget review office director, said the county could save $21 million by laying off 200 employees, $28 million by lagging payroll by one day each pay period and $25 million by deferring a pension payment. He also said county lawmakers could ask the State Legislature to increase the county sales tax rate by 0.25%, and the home energy tax rate by 1.5%. But the office's proposals would still only make up about $150 million in shortfall, he said. 

“Without federal support, it’s catastrophic,” Reinheimer said.

Deputy Presiding Officer Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) said that the budget proposals likely don’t “go far enough.”