ALBANY – The budget approved by state lawmakers last week will provide “little to no relief” for local taxpayers, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi charged yesterday.

Mr. Suozzi said various provisions of the $101 billion budget will cost Nassau County $14 million to $19 million next year, enough to erase all or most of the savings from a state takeover of Family Health Plus, the government-sponsored health plan for the working poor.

“The shell game that state representatives in Albany play every summer – giving with one hand and taking away with the other – is once again costing taxpayers more here at home,” Mr. Suozzi said.

Mr. Suozzi is one of many county officials agitating for the state to cap the local contribution toward the Medicaid health plan for the poor and disabled, which is a major reason why New York’s local taxes are 72% above the national average.

Mr. Suozzi, a Democrat, went so far as to form a “Fix Albany” political action committee earlier this year, and is supporting candidates running against incumbent state legislators of both parties from Nassau County.

The new budget rejected most of Governor Pataki’s proposals for reducing the cost of Medicaid, which is jointly funded by the federal, state, and local governments. They argued that the takeover of Family Health Plus would provide similar relief for local taxpayers, ultimately saving counties a total of $404 million a year, including $270 million for New York City.

Mr. Suozzi’s analysis, released yesterday, found the budget will save Nassau County $15.2 million a year, including $14 million in Family Health Plus costs. But he found that other provisions of the budget – including a lower cap on what the state reimburses the county for administrative expenses, changes in welfare benefits, and higher payments for patients in nursing homes – will cost Nassau between $13.9 million and $19 million.

Legislative officials disputed this analysis.

“He’s comparing apples and oranges and manipulating some of the numbers,” said a spokesman for the Senate’s majority Republicans, Mark Hansen. “The bottom line is the budget is going to be a positive benefit to counties and county taxpayers throughout the state.”

“This year we were able to provide significant assistance to counties through pension reform and a takeover of Family Health Plus,” said a spokesman for the Assembly Democrats, Eileen Larrabee. “This progress is one step but, as we move forward, the Assembly is not going to abandon our commitment to quality health care for all New Yorkers – especially seniors.”

The executive director of the New York State Association of Counties, Robert Gregory, said his staff estimates that the Family Health Plus takeover will save counties $200 million in 2005 and $400 million in 2006. The association has also identified provisions of the budget that will cost counties money, but is still analyzing how much, he said.

A budget analyst with the Manhattan Institute, E.J. McMahon, said Mr. Suozzi’s findings do not surprise him.

The lawmakers’ priorities in this budget “were protecting their friends and sacred cows,” Mr. McMahon said. “So the things they did at the end were give more money to [health-care unions], and more money to schools, and more money to colleges and hospitals…. For the economy in general they did absolutely nothing.”

Mr. Pataki has signaled he will veto some of the Legislature’s changes in his original budget proposal, but has not provided details. Lawmakers overrode 119 of Mr. Pataki’s budget vetoes last year, but it is unclear whether they will do so again.