Carl Campanile

In the face of a  projected $6 billion deficit, Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to shift millions of dollars in salaries from the government payroll to the capital budget — thus giving the appearance he’s lowering operating costs, critics charge.

A prime example is Cuomo’s bid to transfer employee salaries from the Department of Environmental Conservation to the $300 million Environmental Protection Fund in the capital budget.

Assembly Environmental Committee Chairman Steve Englebright (D-Suffolk) said that Cuomo shouldn’t pile the salaries there.

“The Environmental Protection Fund has never been used for general operations of the agency. This is not a program specific need. This is just an off-loading of agency personnel,” Englebright told The Post.

“It risks the long-term viability of this very targeted capital program. The raid of the capital fund needs to be rejected. It’s the camel’s nose under the tent,” Englebright added.

Senates Environmental Committee Chairman Todd Kaminsky (D-Nassau) also opposes the move, a spokesman said.

The EPF funds $152 million for land acquisition and open space, $39 million for recycling programs, $89.2 million for parks and recreational programs, including zoos and botanical gardens, and $19.7 million for climate change initiatives.

But language covering the EPF’s budget line says, “a portion may be used for the payment of personal service expenses incurred on or after April 1, 2020.

One budget analyst said Cuomo has sought to shift more salaries off-budget to claim he’s staying within his self-imposed 2 percent spending cap for his government.

“Moving employees to capital line items is a way to keep perceived `state operating funds costs down. Every year, the governor finds way to nudge more operating costs into non-operating categories, or to redefine some spending as revenue, or to move some spending from one year into another,” said EJ McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli raised concerns about cost shifting in his own analysis of Cuomo’s budget plan.

Adjusting for these maneuvers, the actual proposed spending increase in Cuomo’s operating budget is 3 percent – not 1.9 percent – as Cuomo maintains, DiNapoli said.

Transferring employee salaries to EPF “would effectively reduce funding available to EPF project and program needs,” DiNapoli said.

Cuomo’s budget office defended the move as appropriate to cover the EPF’s six percent in overhead costs – or about $18.5 million.

“The Budget continues the Governor’s record $300 million in support for the Environmental Protection Fund, which ensures that investments are properly targeted to meet the environmental needs of the state and that the internal resources necessary to achieve that goal are properly funded,” said Cuomo Division of the Budget spokesman Freeman Klopott.

Cuomo’s $178 billion budget plan has provoked a backlash, particularly his proposal that would force New York City and other counties to pick up a greater share of the costs for the explosive growth in the Medicaid program. He also wants SUNY and CUNY to raise more funds privately to pay for construction needs and recommends that firms pay a new 3 percent tax to open new medical facilities.

© 2020 New York Post