Suffolk County's attorney told the Legislature's Ways and Means committee Tuesday that his office settled the county's long-running red light camera litigation and received a state grant to help fund work on extreme risk protection orders.
The county attorney said the county received a state grant of roughly $4.8 million for extreme risk protection order work, with $1.8 to $1.9 million going directly to his office to fund three lawyers, two support staff and sheriff's deputies and vehicles. "We got a number a little north of, or close to $5 million. I think it was $4.8," he said.
He also announced a settlement in the county's long-running red light camera litigation, calling the terms "extraordinarily favorable" to the county. He said he has been working through a backlog of large-scale litigation inherited from the prior administration.
On the McGrath lawsuit, the county attorney said the county's exposure was more than $200 million and that a settlement for significantly less is being worked out, with final hearings still to come. "Our exposure was over 200 million dollars and we're going to be settling that and we're getting the numbers now," he said. A legislator noted the county has had six bond rating upgrades in the last two years after eight prior downgrades, crediting the county attorney's litigation management.
The county attorney also raised concerns about staffing, saying his family court bureau of about 45 lawyers needs an elevated deputy position. He said funding for assigned counsel under New York's 18-B program is unpredictable, citing the Gilgo Beach case arrest as an example of an unforeseen, budget-disrupting event.
Legislators noted that representatives of the court system and Legal Aid again failed to appear before the Ways and Means budget committee. One legislator said they also did not appear for a capital budget working group. "I think they also did not appear for the capital budget working group either. So this is concerning," the legislator said.
The Department of Labor's Mark Bossert told the committee that new federal SNAP work-requirement rules, which lowered the child exemption age from 18 to 14, have increased front-door caseworker workload 20 to 25%. "This increased front door flow and work about 20 to 25 percent for the department," he said, adding the department plans to add new counselor positions.
Consumer Affairs administrative director James Andrews said the department rolled out an AI answering service called Cora that handles roughly a third to nearly half of constituent calls around the clock, and that the department has filled two Spanish-speaking office assistant positions this year. A legislator relayed complaints that a Suffolk County contractor license does not transfer to towns such as Brookhaven or Hamptons villages, and Andrews said those municipalities have not been willing to give up their own licensing systems. "The towns and villages keep their licensing and their permits very close to their vests," Andrews said.
The Traffic and Parking Violations Agency reported extended motorist service hours, including night court on first and third Wednesdays, and said average wait times have dropped to about 17 minutes from three to four hours previously.
The committee also heard that a Department of Labor program helping women from a shelter find jobs placed four of five participants in its first group. "I just want an opportunity publicly to say thank you you guys doing a great job with that the neighborhood is overjoyed as am I," a legislator said.