Sheriff says the cuts would result in 29 fewer deputies and officers and eliminate the department's helicopter.
Onondaga County legislative leaders have pledged to slash at least $50 million from the proposed 2011 county budget to avoid major property tax hikes. And they’ll come close to meeting that goal if they adopt the recommendations of the Legislature’s Ways & Means Committee.
Late Thursday night, the committee approved more than 60 changes totaling $45.5 million in reductions to the $1.2 billion spending plan County Executive Joanie Mahoney proposed.
They amount to a recommendation to the full Legislature, which will vote on the budget Oct. 12. But they are important, because the final county budget traditionally looks more like the one recommended by the Ways & Means Committee than it does the one proposed by the county executive.
The committee’s recommendations generally reflect the desires of the majority party in the Legislature — in this case, the Republicans, who outnumber Democrats 12-7.
But how the committee reduced the budget is already a point of debate between Republican legislative leaders and Mahoney, a fellow Republican.
Of the $45.5 million cut, only about $10 million was from “real” spending cuts that would generate savings every year, according to Mahoney’s staff. The rest, about $35 million, is the result of tapping the county’s reserve funds, delaying purchases of such things as cars for the Sheriff’s Department and simply raising estimates of the money the county will collect next year in sales taxes, room occupancy taxes and other revenues, they said.
Minutes after the committee finished voting, Mahoney criticized its actions as “irresponsible.” She said many of the recommended reductions were budgetary “gimmicks” that will result in even bigger fiscal problems — and property tax increases — in 2012 and future years.
Her staff was working Friday to determine how many county jobs would be eliminated if the committee’s recommendations are adopted by the full Legislature — and how many of those reductions would require layoffs.
Legislature Chairman James Rhinehart, R-Skaneateles, defended the committee’s plan. He said the use of surplus government money to balance budgets is a legitimate practice, one that has been used by county executives and legislatures numerous times. He noted the Legislature took $8 million from the county’s general fund balance for its 2010 budget, and he said spending reductions and revenue increases will replenish the fund by the end of this year.
“I just don’t see a problem with that,” he said.
Rhinehart said legislators may not be finished making changes to Mahoney’s budget. They’re still looking for ways to bring the total reductions to $50 million, he said.
Nevertheless, he said the Legislature was open to negotiations with the county executive.
Mahoney was not the only county official upset with the committee’s recommendations. Sheriff Kevin Walsh said a $1.76 million cut from his department’s police division and the elimination of the department’s helicopter would threaten public safety.
The cuts would result in 29 fewer deputies and officers, a 13 percent reduction in the force. Walsh said such a cut would harm the department’s ability to patrol the county and to play a role in the consolidation of town and village police departments.
Walsh said the department’s Bell 407 helicopter provides an important role in search-and-rescue operations, locating fleeing criminals and transporting seriously injured accident victims to hospitals from far-flung locations.
“That’s when lives are saved,” he said. “It’s been able to make a difference.”
Walsh also questioned the committee’s estimate that the county could sell the helicopter for $1.8 million. A surplus of helicopters on the market and the need for an engine overhaul in the next two years makes it unlikely the county could get more than $1.5 million, he said.
Rhinehart said the state police helicopter and a private air medical service could provide the same services that the Sheriff’s Department helicopter provides. He estimated the county would save $1 million a year.
Walsh said the state police helicopter, which is based at Hancock Airport, could not possibly provide the same level of service.
The Ways & Means Committee will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. Thursday in the ballroom at the Onondaga County Convention Center, 800 S. State St.
Contact Rick Moriarty at rmoriarty@syracuse.com or (315) 470-3148.