Chatting about county budget
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- November
- 17
Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., I’ll be talking with Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef about his 2009 county budget proposal.
Watch the discussion LIVE at www.LoHud.com/editorialspotlight; and post your questions for the county executive during our live blogging session.
And there’s plenty to talk about when looking at the $714.5 million spending plan. Cost-savings include an early retirement incentive plan and the closing of dozens of job positions. Some other cuts, like a 15 percent across-the-board funding cut to nonprofit agencies, has some agencies concerned. In a bad economy, some of the services those nonprofits provide are more in demand. Then, there’s a $1 million savings that would come from ending free prescriptions for county workers if they use the county pharmacy. It’s an idea Vanderhoef’s pushed for a while; but the unions and workers have been woe to let go of a benefit they’ve had for years and they see as part of their overall compensation.
The property tax rate is expected to jump 9.85 percent. The county tax portion is a relatively small part of a property owner’s tax bill (schools are the big chunk) but it’s still a tough sell right now.
Rockland taxpayers, where would you cut? How would you raise revenue? If you can’t contribute questions live, post them here or email them to ncutler@lohud.com, and I will pass them on to Vanderhoef. I’m sure he’s eager to hear ideas, too.
This entry was posted
on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pm by Nancy Cutler.
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