Legislator plans to make nonprofits contracted with the county ‘not for profit’

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Suffolk County Legis. Trish Bergin (R-10th District) and Legis. Robert Trotta (R-13th District) have introduced and sponsored legislation to provide further restrictions on administrative expenses of contract agencies.

Nonprofits that partner with the county are considered contract agencies, entering into contract with the county to provide services to the community. Introductory Resolution 1687 (IR 1687) seeks to limit Suffolk County funding to nonprofit contract agencies that pay any employee a salary greater than $250,000, exceeding the New York State Governor’s salary.

If passed, the legislation would effectively cap executive pay for nonprofit agencies that contract with the county. While contract agencies are currently required to report all revenue and salaries to the county, if passed, IR 1687 would also require the nonprofits to disclose all gifts and donations, including the names of individual donors.

According to Bergin, some nonprofits do not ask for Suffolk County taxpayer money—they raise all their own money through philanthropic fundraising ventures—while other nonprofits do.

“We are not looking to take money away from these programs. We are simply asking these organizations, if you want this amount of money, we will give it to you, for programs,” explained Bergin. “If you want to pay yourself a half of a million dollars a year, then go out and have fundraisers, get people to voluntarily donate to you, then pay yourself whatever you want. But if you are going to ask a taxpayer to fund an operation, including exorbitant salaries that exceed $250,000, then we are not giving you the money.

“These agencies set their own salaries, but when they seek county assistance to fund their administrative expenses rather than use those resources towards the programs benefiting our community, it is not fair to the taxpayer,” said Bergin.

According to annual disclosure reports from the Suffolk County comptroller’s office, over 30 nonprofits currently contracted with the county have employees earning over $250,000 annually.

The proposed bill would not apply to any contract agency that is a hospital, as hospitals are exempted from the legislation. Bergin noted that the county has lots of hospitals and medical clinics that operate for underprivileged families who fall under a certain threshold of income, and those agencies will be exempt.

According to sponsoring legislators Bergin and Trotta, the proposed bill was crafted to benefit the average taxpayer.

“It is time to rein in the out-of-control not-for-profit executives who are making more than the Governor and the people they serve who live in poverty,” said Trotta.

“It is not fair to the people who are struggling to pay their taxes on Long Island, and to have that tax money used to pay exorbitant salaries for people who are supposed to be doing God’s work,” said Bergin. “That tax money, some of it is going to fund these not-for-profits, where, let’s say, a nonprofit is supposed to be using funds to feed hungry families, and the executive is paying herself $450,000 a year. That is insanity.”

Critics of the proposed bill have pointed out that plenty of other agencies that contract with the county pay salaries well over Gov. Hochul’s $250,000 salary. Bergin explained that these other agencies are from private industries, so the county has oversight regarding the amount of money given to them. For example, the county would have oversight over money allotted to a paving company contracted with the county by way of a request for a proposal and a bidding process. Companies could fill out bidding sheets, and the county can pick which company to contract with. On the contrary, Bergin claims the oversight for the nonprofit contract agencies is lacking.

“The only oversight that currently exists is in the code currently, that they are not allowed to exceed 20 percent of the overall budget for administrative costs, their salaries,” explained Bergin. “That is too much. They are still paying themselves $400,000 and $500,000 a year.”

While District 10 Legis. Bergin is in fierce support of the bill, where do the other local legislators stand?

“Suffolk County has various contract agencies that provide vital services to our communities, whether they help our veterans, seniors, homeless, those with special needs, and those in need of counseling services, housing, and many other vital resources. Those agencies are governed by boards of directors and set forth their agency’s budgets and staff salaries,” shared Legis. Samuel Gonzalez (D-9th District). “Many of these agencies receive private donations, contracts and grants from federal, state, and county governments. They also must meet living wage guidelines set forth by the county for their employees, and they are all required to file disclosure forms with the county to account for all spending. We believe that further regulating not-for-profit salaries is not in the purview of the legislature, nor is it beneficial, especially for the agencies that are providing critical services to our community.”

“As an elected official and a taxpayer, I want to make sure that every dime of taxpayers’ dollars is going towards helping our residents here in Suffolk County,” stated Legis. Steven Flotteron (R-11th District).

The bill will be introduced in the Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday, Aug. 27, where the committee will not vote in support or opposition of the bill, but rather vote to put it on the agenda for public hearing. If it advances, after a public hearing, a simple majority vote among the 18-member legislature would approve the bill.

“The public hearing will be interesting, because if these individuals who are making $500,000 a year feeding hungry people have the audacity to get up to a microphone and say they deserve to make this amount of money, I welcome that,” said Bergin. “They should come. Because I would love for them to hear what I have to say.”

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Photos courtesy of the Suffolk County Legislature.