LOHUD: Rockland Legislature overrides Days budget item vetoes The Rockand County Legislature on Monday approved to override County Executive Ed Days vetoes. In a 15-2 vote Monday night, the Democratic-led Rockland County Legislature approved an override of all the budget-item vetoes issued by Republican County Executive Ed Day, saving the Sheriffs mounted patrol unit, Sheriffs captain position and funding for 10 nonprofit organizations. The Legislature then went on to adopt its version of the 2015 budget of about $772 million, finalizing the months-long budget deliberation process. Legislator Michael Grant, D-Garnerville, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, criticized Days approach to the budget process as inconsistent. Theres nothing that he submitted to us, in terms of his vetoes, that makes it a better budget, Grant said. Theres nothing in his vetoes that we should consider tonight. Day, in his veto message, said that as a chief fiscal officer of the county, he had to make a tough decision to reform the financially stressed county government. I sincerely hope to work together with the full Legislature toward this shared goal in the future, Day said in his statement. Days vetoes, totaling nearly $700,000, included $220,740 to maintain the Sheriffs mounted patrol unit and a patrol captains position in the Sheriffs Office, with a salary of $171,274. Day also vetoed funding for 10 nonprofits, totaling $281,375, saying those organizations services were not consistent with the county governments mission and purpose. Legislators Joseph Meyers, D-Airmont; Chris Carey, R-Bardonia; Douglas Jobson, R-Stony Point; and Patrick Moroney, R-Pearl River, wanted to vote on Days vetoes one by one, but the other legislators supported overriding them all together. Meyers and Carey voted no to overriding Days vetoes. Carey said the cuts were never easy but necessary. Unfortunately, were not a county that can afford to have a budget without cuts, he said. Under the adopted budget, taxpayers with homes assessed at the countys average would pay about $20 more a year in county taxes. Days initial budget proposal called for eliminating 111 jobs to trim about $6.8 million, including 37 positions in the Sheriffs Patrol Division as well as dozens of security and laundry jobs. It also called for eliminating funding for nonprofit groups to save about $3.3 million. The revised budget adopted by the Legislature restored 36 of the 37 positions in the Sheriffs Patrol Division and funding for the mounted patrol. Money for the nonprofits also was put back into the spending plan. Akiko Matsuda, amatsuda@lohud lohud/story/news/local/rockland/2014/12/15/rockland-legislature-overrides-days-vetoes/20466989/
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:53:51 +0000
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