Veto of Legislature's $20M Transfer Upheld, Budget to Rely On Foley Sale

The Suffolk County Legislature fell two votes short of  the supermajority needed to override a veto by County Executive Steve Levy's veto on a on Wednesday.

The Legislature initially approved the plan by an 11-6 vote on Oct. 15 in order to ensure Levy had enough cash on hand to pay the county's $130 million pension bill due February 2011. But Levy vetoed the measure.

Legislators said the decision not to override came after they realized Levy's recommended 2011 budget already called for the county to borrow $19.5 million.

"I will do one of two things. We are either going to borrow the money, or pay for it from the pension reserve. I will not do both," said Legis. Edward Romaine, R-Center Moriches.

Levy's recommended 2011 budget includes borrowing $19.5 million from New York State at 5.25 percent interest, with $15 million going into the general fund.

However, Legis. John Kennedy Jr., R-Nesconset, said that interest rate is too high.

"We should not be entertaining a 5 percent interest rate when it's something we could get on the market for 0.75 percent," Kennedy said, who voted to override.

Presiding Officer William Lindsay, D-Holbrook, said the transfer woudn't further increase the 2011 budget's size, but would have given Levy options to pay the county's bills.

Levy's 2011 recommended budget calls for the sale of John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility in Yaphank to a private operator for $36 million, which after paying off debts and replenishing the general fund would net the county a $19.7 million profit. That facility has already been on the market for two years. In addition, the $12 million sale of the proposed 95-acre industrial parcel of Legacy Village is also laid out in the 2011 budget.

"County Executive gave us a budget out-of-balance with $32 million in funding not approved by the Legislature. Selling property we own. Selling Legacy Village, we haven't voted on it yet. Selling  [John J.] Foley nursing home, we haven't voted on it yet," Lindsay said.

Sale of either property would require supermajority legislature approval, 12 votes in favor, but a resolutions on the properties' haven't been drafted yet, Lindsay said.

Republican members of the Legislature had criticized the transfer since the beginning as a thinly veiled way of keeping Foley nursing home open. The presiding officer said the money couldn't have, as the transfer would place the funds out of the Legislature's control.