The Suffolk County, N.Y. Legislature passed a $2.9 billion budget Wednesday that was balanced by including $117 million in one-time revenue projections.
The one-shot revenues in the spending plan include borrowing $42.5 million for pension costs, $32.8 million from a sewer reserve fund and $18.9 million from the sale of the county run John K. Foley nursing home in Yaphank, according to Suffolk Budget Review Director Robert Lipp. The county may also be able to claim an additional $14.4 million from a tobacco settlement fund, according to Ripp.
The budget was approved in a 12-3 vote and now heads to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who can sign or veto portions of it. Ripp said the revised fiscal plan is more realistic since it contains $30.25 million less in estimated sales tax revenue than Bellone's initial proposal. There are $10 million in cuts to bus services and reductions are always a challenge to implement, said Ripp.
"We have a lot of needs and it can be hard to cut expenditures," said Ripp. "Our challenges are similar to a lot of municipalities around the country."
Standard & Poor's downgraded Suffolk County's long-term bond rating one notch to A on Oct. 13 citing New York's State's tax cap law that limits funds the Long Island local government can raise. Suffolk's 2016 budget proposal is a 1% increase over the current spending plan.
