Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef cut to the chase when it came to his opinion of the state”™s budget quagmire: “Our counties are dependent on Albany. If you haven”™t noticed, there is no New York state government ”“ it generally does not exist in this world. It may exist in some other world, but we have not been able to find it. Apparently, our legislators have not been able to find it, either.”
The Palisades Institute, which hosted the county executive forum at Dominican College”™s Rosary Hall, welcomed freshman County Executive Rob Astorino of Westchester, Orange County”™s Edward Diana and Vanderhoef on Wednesday, June 15.
While counties must create and pass a budget on time, Albany has been sparring over how to close the $9.2 billion budget gap it faces for weeks.  With $2 billion left to cut, county executives have no idea where the budget ax will fall. Albany”™s budget is more than overdue ”“ presenting more than an emergency situation for county governments. It”™s crisis time, say the county chiefs.
They agreed that cutting county work forces, trimming budgets on programs, eliminating services and facing the wrath of CSEA workers and special interest groups can be daunting.?“But it needs to be done,” said Rob Astorino. “When I was elected, it was on a platform to cut spending and streamline government. Westchester has been on a spending spree for a decade. Now, there is nothing left to spend and no reserves. I was told we had a $60 million dollar deficit when I was briefed after the election.” In March, auditors told Astorino that Westchester”™s deficit would be $166 million by 2011. He”™s promised Westchester a budget with no tax increase in 2011, “and we are going to get it done.”
Medicaid and pension costs have driven county budgets to unsustainable numbers, said Edward Diana, in his second term as county executive. “The state must change the way we fund education and Medicaid ”“ those two programs alone outspend our entire budget.
“Medicaid has a total of 46 programs, 26 of which are elective ”“ New York is the only state in the nation that does them all,” Diana continued. “Our cost per recipient is approximately $9,600 per person each year ”“ higher than Florida, Texas and California combined ”¦ and they are making changes to allow more people to become eligible.”
Vanderhoef said Rockland”™s Medicaid mandate accounts for 110 percent of the county”™s total Medicaid bill. “You don”™t know what you are dealing with when you don”™t know what the state is doing and what cuts they may make,” he said. “Our fiscal year begins in January, theirs begins in April. From our perspective, we have budgets that are approved and in place. Essentially, the state owes Rockland $63 million in programs already delivered; 2011 is going to be the county”™s worst year for Medicaid and pension costs.”
For Astorino, “Westchester had 10 years of unstoppable growth and spending that went through the roof. The problems we face didn”™t start in 2008; these are structural problems that have gone because of years of saying yes to everything.”
Astorino said he”™s asked all departments to scrutinize every line item like they”™ve never done before. “Everyone is going to feel the pain. And, yes, I”™ve already had the picketers in front of my house. I told my wife to prepare our children for the giant rat that is going to appear next on the lawn.”
County executives agreed change is not easy, and it is not easy to change the mindset of those who have been comfortable with the status quo for so long. “We have highly paid executives now waiting on line for food stamps. We”™re in a crisis unlike anything we”™ve ever experienced since The Great Depression,” said Vanderhoef. “Watching what our partner, New York State, is doing, is quite upsetting.”
