The Public Employees Federation, the state's second-biggest government-worker union, isn't convinced the so-called SAGE plan will create savings, President Ken Brynien said in a statement e-mailed when the report was released.
The commission's findings lacked details, "opening the door to increased patronage and cronyism" because the proposals could lead the state to rely more on private contractors, Brynien said.
Cuomo also won't find help from unions when it comes to overhauling the state pension, which he has repeatedly described as a priority for 2012.
"Our pension fund is fully funded," Brynien said during a Dec. 22 interview in his Latham, New York, office. "We're trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist just because it's a politically popular thing to do."
New York's $133.8 billion retirement plan, the third- largest in the U.S., was 101.5 percent funded in 2010, better than any other state, according to an annual study by Bloomberg Rankings.
Pension Tier
Cuomo unsuccessfully pressed lawmakers last year for a new pension tier for incoming state and local workers that would save $93 billion over 30 years by raising the retirement age to 65 from 62, increasing employee contributions and stopping workers from using overtime in their final years to boost payouts.
Local governments and school districts have pressured the governor to reduce the cost of state-required programs, such as pension funding. The issue has taken on more importance as they work to stay below the 2 percent property-tax cap that took effect Jan. 1.
About 20 percent of local governments have voted to raise property taxes above the cap, Kate Gurnett, a spokeswoman for Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, said in a Dec. 28 e-mail.
Cuomo has said he wants to find other ways of cutting local-government costs, too.