NEW CITY – Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef submitted a $760.9 million proposed budget for 2014 that includes a 9.9 percent property tax increase. That translates to about $101 more per year for the average homeowner.
The spending plan unveiled Wednesday maintains all county’s existing services and does not cut any programs or impose layoffs. He has recommended a net decrease of roughly 40 vacant positions.
Vanderhoef’s budget is based on the presumption that Governor Cuomo will approve the county’s deficit financing act, which would allow the county to issue bonds to pay down its deficit. The act has already passed in both houses of the state legislature. If the governor does veto it before the budget is adopted, the county would be required to set aside an additional $10 million to reduce the deficit.
The budget also includes funding for the year for the Rockland County Nursing Care Center despite the fact that the county has created a local development corporation, which has already issued a request for proposals to sell or lease the nursing home.
Vanderhoef said the sale would help eliminate any remaining county deficit in 2014.
The budget also provides for mental health emergency services and psychiatric inpatient services through June, as they are expected to relocate to Nyack Hospital in the second quarter of the year.