NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A10707
SPONSOR: Rules (Jaffee)
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act authorizing the county of Rockland to issue bonds; and providing
for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to authorize the county of Rockland (the
"County") to issue up to $80 million of bonds to liquidate the projected
accumulated deficit in its general fund for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2010, December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2012.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The County is authorized to issue bonds on or before December 31, 2013
in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $80,000,000 for the
specific object or purpose of liquidating the projected accumulated
deficit in the general fund of such county for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2010, December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2012. In antic-
ipation of the issuance of the bonds authorized to be issued by this
act, the issuance and sale of bond anticipation notes are authorized.
For each fiscal year during the time bonds and/or notes issued pursuant
to this act are outstanding, the County Executive shall submit the
proposed budget to the State Comptroller thirty days prior to the sched-
uled county legislature's vote on the adoption of the final budget. The
State Comptroller shall examine the proposed budget, recommendations and
the county shall make adjustments to the proposed budget consistent with
any recommendations.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The County needs state legislative approval to finance the projected
accumulated $80 million deficit over a ten year period. The County
increased property taxes by 30% in the County's adopted 2012 budget, is
currently negotiating with its public employee collective bargaining
units to control personnel costs, and is otherwise evaluating its policy
options to address significant increases in the costs of state retire-
ment fund contributions and unfunded state mandated service costs during
this very difficult economic environment for all local governments. The
County is also evaluating the operations and possible disposition of its
nursing home which requires significant annual operating subsidies. By
local law, the County has imposed a multi-year financial planning
requirement to facilitate understanding of revenue and expenditure
trends and support fiscal management over a multi-year time horizon.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately