NEW CITY – Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef has cut 35-percent in new initiatives from the county’s 2009 Capital Projects budget and has asked New York State for a one-year extension on plans to build a new Hospital and Nursing Home in Rockland.

“Everyone is struggling to pay their bills and trying to cut back. We understand the financial challenges facing the people of this County, and government is no different,” Vanderhoef said. “Belt tightening and delay in certain building projects is required.”

Decreasing long-term construction and improvement projects is one way to reduce county spending, Vanderhoef said. The total proposed 2009 Capital Budget of $493.6 million in 2009, down from $542.5 million in 2008, a nine-percent overall decrease. Of the $16.1 million in new funding, $13 million will be reimbursed by state and federal aid, leaving the net cost of new funding to $3 million in 2009, said H. Chris Kopf, commissioner of the County’s Finance and Budget departments.

Projects totaling $65 million will either be canceled, closed out or deferred, including drainage projects totaling $22.6 million from the county’s Highway Department and $2.5 million for new parking facilities, a new storage building and an expansion of Building L at the Pomona Health Center. Plans for a $30 million highway garage were indefinitely delayed earlier in the year.

The county last week also applied to the New York State Department of Health for a one-year extension on plans for a proposed $141 million hospital. Although the county would be reimbursed for most of the construction cost of the medical facility with funds from Medicaid and Medicare, Vanderhoef said he did not want to burden taxpayers by bonding for the project or any other non-essential spending during the current economic downturn.

New initiatives included in the proposed 2009 Capital Projects Budget include $2.6 million for bus shelters and five new Coach buses for the County’s Tappan ZEExpress service and $1.2 million for a County -wide diesel retrofit program for the County’s bus fleet to help reduce dangerous pollutants. The County will be reimbursed for both projects through federal and state aid.

Vanderhoef will propose the county’s full 2009 Budget to the Rockland County Legislature on Thursday.