Warning bell for other counties
LONG ISLAND -- The pressure on counties across New York to cut costs and balance their budgets took on added urgency on Wednesday when New York State seized control of Nassau County's finances. After the State takeover of the wealthy county just outside of New York City, other counties are looking at how it happened.
Onondaga County Chief Financial Officer James Rowley says “Onondaga County is in better shape than Nassau, but will need to make tough choices very soon if the county wants to keep their budget balanced. Nassau County has a history of providing services but they also have a bent of not raising taxes to cover the costs so that's how they got into trouble."
Rowley continued, "When you're talking about services, you're talking about people and with pension costs and health care costs careening out of control, it's much more difficult to provide services."
Rowley says he hopes lawmakers across the State learn from Nassau County's troubles and don't repeat them. "Every county in the state should see this as a warning sign and make sure that, as they go forward and build budgets, they're done in a financially responsible way. If you're going to cut taxes, you cut requisite spending."
The state can only take over a county's finances until the county's budget is balanced. It’s not clear when that will happen in Nassau County, especially since the county's reserve fund is considered dangerously low.
