Layoffs, police cuts highlight 2012 budget

Last week, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano announced a plan to close a projected deficit of more than $300 million in the 2012 budget through layoffs and reforms, bringing about the first budget reduction in years.

Mangano’s “Fix Nassau Now” budget, as he has termed it, would eliminate 1,010 jobs, cut millions of dollars in spending and reform contracts and the county structure to close an estimated $310 million deficit. The plan would cut spending by $63 million.

“Nassau’s finances spun out of control over the past decade because of a broken assessment system and overly generous contractual obligations that are unaffordable in a sluggish economy,” Mangano said in a release. “My reforms will fix Nassau now.”

Foremost among those reforms is cutting more than 1,000 jobs through layoffs and attrition. According to Mangano, the county has already cut 300 jobs this year. It will lay off an additional 710 employees around the end of the year — reducing the county payroll from 8,410 (which was already the county’s lowest employment number in decades) to 7,400. The plan would also require all county employees to contribute 25 percent of the cost of their health insurance policies.

“We already had 128 layoffs on July 1,” said Ryan Mulholland, director of communications for Nassau County CSEA Local 830. “If he’s going to lay off 700 more employees, this county is not going to be able to function. It’s as simple as that.”

Mulholland added, “We have probation officers and social service case workers who already have two or three times the acceptable case load in their departments. We’ve had times when 911 calls have been put on hold because there’s not enough people to answer calls. These things are happening now. If you’re going to cut the work force by 10 percent, there’s no way that they’re going to be able to function as a government.”

Also, according to Mulholland, Mangano cannot force union members to pay into their health insurance because they are protected by the terms of their contracts.

Mangano’s budget also reforms the county Police Department. It calls for consolidating the county’s precincts from eight to six, the details of which have yet to be released.