The Suffolk County Legislature passed the 2023 Budget last week, cementing a $3.74 billion plan that focuses primarily on law enforcement, government jobs and cybersecurity.
The budget was passed with a 14-4 vote. Legislators Trish Bergen (R-Islip), Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset), Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holbrook), and Robert Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) were the four votes against the budget. Their main concerns were with long-term financial impacts of leftovers from the COVID-19 Pandemic. The current balanced budget appears as a mirage, until the associated figures begin to settle.
Trotta says the budget relies too heavily on the pandemic-related funds, namely the increased sales tax. He argues that county spending is too high to weather a recession, as many economists are forecasting.
Legislator Trotta says: “…Down the road…the sales tax revenue starts to drop. And then we have to raise taxes through the roof.”
Sales tax revenue skyrocketed 23% in 2021 over 2020 due to the depressed economy and nosedive in spending during the most intense period of the pandemic.
While Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) did not respond to The Messenger directly to comment, he is, according to other sources, optimistic about the budget’s ability to cover expenses.
Minority Leader Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon) did, however, respond to The Messenger for direct comment.
Last year’s Suffolk budget passed unanimously, and while this year’s budget saw only four votes against it, it was still largely a bipartisan effort. Legislator Richberg said: “Republican or Democrat, there is more that we agree on than we disagree on. We have been able to make sacrifices when needed and put the county’s financial health ahead of partisanship.”
Regarding bipartisanship, Richberg attributed funding for infrastructure and investment in the county’s human services that served as a fulcrum for cooperation last year. He has anticipated bipartisanship this year. Given the final vote, it seems to have come to fruition. The four votes against the budget were not delivered on partisan wedge issues, rather an address of economic foresight.
The budget for each year is always full of possible amendments, ranging from government positions’ salaries and benefits to revenue sharing between towns and villages. Legislator Richberg said that conversation has been “more about the overall budget than specific amendments. Our budget is broken up into different sections, and if one section isn’t adopted it creates gaps in other places.”
In a comment from last week, Richberg said he did not “see any specific amendments being an issue.”
Suffolk’s budget last year included federal funds, mainly regarding the pandemic. Legislator Richberg said: “Yes, federal monies from these programs are included in this year’s budget and are mainly going towards infrastructure projects.”
County Executive Steve Bellone (D) did not respond to comment from The Messenger, but, according to other sources, has endorsed the budget and is ready to implement the results of the vote.
The budget raises spending by about 1.5% from last year, rising from $3.74 billion to $3.69 billion.
The main focuses of the budget include a large expansion of the District Attorney’s office – 28 positions – which entails roughly $1.5 million in salaries. With this, information technology spending will increase by about $7 million and 19 cybersecurity positions. All of this comes largely in the wake of a cybersecurity attack that took many county operations offline in September.
In addition to the passage of the budget last Wednesday, the new Suffolk County Legislature map was passed. The map was recommended by a bipartisan committee.
