CCE: County Funding Cut By Almost 97% Since 1999

At Monday's Nassau County legislative meeting, staff and volunteers from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County (CCE-NC) are expected to speak out against the "continued absence of Nassau County annual budget line item funding," according to Extension executive director Laura Hunsberger.

The meeting, open to the public, will be held at 1 p.m. at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building, located at 1550 Franklin Avenue in Mineola.

“County funding support has been cut by almost 97 percent since 1999. Full-time staff has been slashed by over 50 percent in the last three years, programs have been eliminated, furloughs and a host of other cost-cutting measures have been implemented," Hunsberger said. "As the organization approaches its 100th year, it is almost certainly its last without appropriate budget funding by the county.”

Extension officials believe that if the lack of funding continues, it will lead to immediate employee layoffs and facilities closures. East Meadow Farms would be the first facility to close, according to CCE officials.

East Meadow Farms closed on a biweekly basis due to budget cuts in June, as did CCE's Jericho office. There has never been an extension office closure under circumstances like this in the entire 100-year history of extension in New York State, Hunsberger said.

CCE-NC is a non-profit organization "committed to building healthy lifestyles and healthy communities by conducting educational programs that connect Cornell University resources to community needs for all Nassau County residents." CCE-NC has been educating and disseminating information since 1914 via funding and resources provided by the county, the state (Cornell University), USDA, grant partnerships and donors.

“If Nassau County Extension does close, the county’s residents would lose all of the matching funds from state and federal governments, along with a host of other benefits the community currently enjoys,” Hunsberger said.

“When Teddy Roosevelt envisioned a national extension system, it included a shared funding mechanism between counties, states and the federal government. I can only hope decision-makers will perform a cost/benefit analysis before determining Nassau County Extension’s fate."

Hunsberger said, for example, CCE Master Gardener volunteers provided the equivalent of more than $140,000 in public services last year alone, and that figure "does not even begin to account for the many other economic and quality of life benefits that result from having an extension office."

Without a county funding commitment before October 2013, Extension will begin winding down areas of its operations and undertaking the process of facility closings later that month, CCE officials said.