Mangano: cuts impact all departments, employees

County Executive Ed Mangano unveiled last week that his plan to trim millions in spending includes layoffs, a furlough for county employees and the redeployment of police officers. 

Mangano provided details on his revised financial plan for the 2011 budget, which includes $181.9 million in cuts, to reporters on March 23. 

“There is really no department that remains unaffected,” he said, “There is no contract that remains unaffected. There is no employee that remains unaffected.”

The plan was devised in response to the “control period” designated by the Nassau Interim Finance Authority in January. NIFA  — a seven-member board created by the state in 2000 to monitor the county’s finances — said the county’s 2011 budget was unbalanced and faced a structural deficit of 7 percent. NIFA demands no more than a 1-percent budget deficit. Mangano and the county challenged NIFA’s decision, but were unsuccessful in state supreme court. 

The plan calls for $60.5 million in employee-related spending reductions, which includes $50 million in savings from the 213 layoffs, the elimination of 307 vacant positions, the implementation of a 13-day furlough for county personnel and the reduction of season and part-time employees. The furlough would remove one day’s earnings per pay period, Mangano said, and would go into effect on July 1. 

An additional $10.5 million in savings would be realized with the freeze of employee wages and longevity pay. 

The reduction of $17.7 million from contractual expenses could also lead to layoffs — possibly 100 or more — in those funded agencies or organizations, a number not included in the financial plan, Mangano said. 

Mangano is also calling for a restructuring of the police department that could translate into $15 million in savings. He said police officers would be redeployed to add more patrols on the streets in an effort to reduce overtime. He insisted the changes would not change the quality of public safety provided by the department. 

 “There is no question we have the safety county in the nation, and it’s our intention to keep it that way,” Mangano said. 

But James Carver, president of the Nassau Police Benevolent Association, said that while there would be more patrols on the streets, crucial positions behind the scenes could be eliminated, including community-based officers. 

“We’ll have the same amount of patrol cars but we wont have the backup people out there — that’s what’s missing,” Carver said. “I think he is going down the wrong path affecting public safety.”

Both the PBA president and Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the CSEA Nassau Local 830, insisted that the county continues to look for more concessions even thought the unions have complied on multiple occasions since 2008. 

“We will look to come up with creative solutions in lieu of layoffs and furloughs,” said Laricchiuta, whose union represents 10,000 members, including 6.500 county workers. “But with the amount of money that is being asked for, we believe it will be very difficult to avoid any significant harm to our members.”

Speaking on behalf of the Democrats, the Legislature’s minority conference, Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead) commended the county executive for working with NIFA, but said cuts should have been implemented earlier to reduce the impact on residents. He expressed disappointment at the proposed reductions in contractual services, which could damage the Youth Board and health and human services, and criticized the county executive’s wish to privatize the Long Island Bus system. 

“The cuts that are being implemented now,” Abrahams said, “if they were implemented on an earlier date probably would have made less of an impact.”

Mangano acknowledged that the cuts will be difficult swallow, but are necessary for the county’s economic future. 

“There will be pain,” Mangano said. “There is no exception to that pain. Change in the way we work here in Nassau County will have to take place in order to achieve this plan.”