Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy laid out his new budget plan Friday, which unlike Nassau?s budget plan, does not include a property tax hike.

The county executive will keep taxes at their current levels and focus on cutting costs by having sheriff?s deputies patrol highways instead of highway patrol officers. It?s something many in the county have reacted negatively toward. However, with Levy?s ultimate goal of having the state patrol state-owned highways, he says he no longer needs to hire new cops to patrol the highways. Instead, he reassigns them.

Levy also intends to have a private hospital come in and take over the county-run nursing home in Yaphank. All the patients and employees would remain in place, he says. Many question Levy?s second proposal as well. Cheryl Felice, president of the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees, says selling the nursing home could hurt patient care and employees.

?The [union] members are already public employees, so the question becomes are they public employees or private employees?? Felice asks. ?And the years these people have invested into their pension system becomes a question.?

According to Legislator Kate Browning (D-WF-Mastic), the interested buyers Levy says are there, simply aren?t. She says Levy has been discussing privatizing the nursing home for 18 months, but no one has come forward to take it over.

Levy maintains taxpayers can't afford to pay for the facility anymore and says his priority is keeping taxes low.