2009-10 Budget’s biggest hits

SPREADING THE MESSAGE — This ad designed by PEF’s PR department, ran in the Legislative Gazette the week of January 7.

By SHERRY HALBROOK
The state budget projects a net loss of 3,108 state positions by March 31, 2010.

PEF Director of Civil Service Enforcement Tom Cetrino said state budget officials told him they intend to abolish 521 positions (layoff the employees) even if more positions than those projected are vacated by attrition.

Many of the governor’s proposals for closing facilities and merging state services are retreads from previous budgets that were rejected by the Legislature.

Correctional services: The proposal to close four state prison camps – Pharsalia in Chenango County, Gabriels in Franklin County, Georgetown in Madison County and Mt. McGregor in Saratoga County – has been repeatedly rejected.

This budget also calls for several prison annexes to be closed.
The Department of Correctional Services would see the greatest net job loss of any state agency: 1,342. The good news: It’s all attrition. No layoffs are planned. However, some members at closed facilities might have to relocate or accept a demotion if they want to stay in state service.

Youth services: This budget again threatens services to troubled youths. Six facilities would be closed – Adirondack Residential Center in Clinton County, Cattaraugus Residential Center (RC) and Great Valley RC in Cattaraugus County, Pyramid Reception Center in the Bronx, Rochester Community Residential Home (RH) in Monroe County, and Syracuse Community RH in Onondaga County.

Also, three evening reporting centers in Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse would be closed.

Operations at two other youth facilities – Allen RC in Delaware County and Tryon RC in Fulton County – would be reduced.
The state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) would have the second highest net job loss: 288. Of those, 127 are by layoff.

Economic development: The entire Economic Development Department would close and its operations would be absorbed by a public-benefit corporation.

(See related article, page 8.)
The budget calls for the elimination of 200, an estimated 117 by layoff.

Addiction services: The Manhattan Addiction Treatment Center would close, probably in the first or second quarter, and 20 jobs would be abolished.
 
Another 31 jobs at the state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services would be vacated by attrition and four new positions would be added.

Mental health services: The state Office of Mental Health (OMH) would reduce its treatment capacity by 450 adult inpatient beds statewide. And 300 outpatients would be reclassified to receive less intensive staffing.

The budget would abolish 120 jobs, and calls for another 410 to be vacated by attrition. Then, it would add 586 new positions.

Developmental services: The state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities would abolish 110 positions, vacate another 174 and fill 231 vacancies. That’s a net staffing loss of 53. All the layoffs and attritions must be done by October 1.

Real property services: Twelve people would be laid-off, and 18 would be attrited.

Some administrative support functions, including human resources, of the state Office of Real Property Services would be “hosted” by the state Department of Taxation and Finance.

Labor and unemployment services: Three layoffs and 12 attritions are budgeted for the state Labor Department.
The remaining 20 layoffs are scattered across other agencies.

State budget hammers PEF members
By SHERRY HALBROOK
The governor said it was all about sharing the pain, but his state Executive Budget proposal for 2009-10 demands massive sacrifices from state employees far beyond those being asked of any other New Yorkers.

Those sacrifices start with 521 layoffs, which PEF expects to affect about 250 of its members. (See related story this page.)
The governor would withhold five days of employees’ pay. They would get it back when they leave state service at whatever their level of pay is then. Or the state could decide to give it back in 2011, if the economy and state revenues rally sufficiently.

Giving back forever
State employees would lose their 3 percent contractual raise for 2009, which is supposed to kick in April 1.

“The burden this budget would place on our members is staggering,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. “Not only would they endure the same added taxes and fees that would be imposed on all New Yorkers, they are being told they must make additional sacrifices for the rest of their years of state service and even throughout their retirements.

“By taking away the 3 percent raise on their base pay promised to them by the state in their contract, the state will ensure that every future raise it ever gives them will be worth that much less. That’s because each raise is calculated as a percentage of their base pay. Once they miss an annual raise, that base is permanently diminished,” Brynien said.

“It won’t end when they retire. Their pensions are based on their ‘final average salary (FAS)’ at the time they retire. Missing their 2009 raise would lower that FAS, so their pensions will be diminished.”

 Proposed Retirees’ Individual Premium			Family Premium
Years of Service	Proposed Share	Annual Increase	Annual Increase
10	50%	$2,311.32	$5,435.76
15	40%	$1,733.52	$4,076.88
20	30%	$1,155.72	$2,717.88
25	20%	$577.80	$1,358.88
30	10%	$0.00	$0.00

Retirement no escape
If you’ve been holding off retiring in hopes of getting an early retirement incentive (ERI), you may wish you had left sooner. The governor has not proposed an ERI. And if you retire from state service after this budget takes effect, you may be forced to pay a bigger share of your health care premiums. (See chart above.)

You would end up paying 50 percent for your own health coverage and 65 percent for a dependent’s coverage if you retired after just 10 years of state service. Your percentage would drop by 2 percent for every additional year of service for up to 20 more years. You would pay at least 10 percent for your own coverage and 25 percent for a dependent’s coverage under this proposal – the levels currently paid by retired state employees.

Both state employees and retired state employees would start paying approximately $20 annually for Medicare Part B premiums for individual coverage. That additional annual cost would be $80 for family coverage.

Any new hires would suffer all of the above, and more. The governor would put them in a new pension Tier 5, where they would be permanently required to contribute 3 percent of their pay to their pensions and the rules for their retirement would drop all the way back to the original 1983 rules and penalties for Tier 4.

Fairness? What fairness?
“To make the hypocrisy of the claim of ‘equal pain’ even more bitter,” Brynien said, “the governor ignored our recommendations to raise the tax rate on New Yorkers with personal incomes of more than $250,000 to make them pay their fair share.

“He has failed to halt out-of-control spending for private consultants. We estimate just doing that could save the state $730 million over three years, and making the richest New Yorkers and big corporations pay their fair share would bring in another $6.3 billion.”

According to Gov. David Paterson, his budget is designed to plug a deficit of $13.7 billion for 2009-10.