Legislature nixes $59M in fees from county budget

GOP says no to inspector general; NIFA vows to reject ‘unbalanced’ spending plan

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The Nassau County Legislature voted along party lines for a number of Republican amendments to County Executive Ed Mangano’s budget on Monday, scrapping $59 million in controversial real estate and public safety fee increases. Majority lawmakers also rejected the Democrats’ call for an independent inspector general to be part of a budget compromise.

However, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, which oversees the county’s finances, vowed on the same day to reject the budget, setting up further wrangling that will likely go on past the Nov. 7 election.

NIFA warned legislators in a statement last week that the fee increases must either stay in the budget, or other sources of revenue or serious cuts must be found. On Monday, the fiscal control board issued a statement saying that by removing the fee increases and relying on “too aggressive” financial projections, the amended budget was “no longer responsibly balanced.”

“NIFA has no choice but to reject the document as is,” the statement read.

Republicans said, as a means of balancing the budget without the fee hikes, they would implement some of the cuts suggested in a report NIFA commissioned from an outside financial agency over the summer.

Also, they posited that much of the $59 million could be made up by accounting for savings and revenues that the county previously underestimated.

The Republicans envision saving $7.5 million in debt service by restructuring some of the county’s debt, and potentially up to $8 million by strictly controlling backfilling positions, and filling some at lower salaries. Also, they agreed with Democrats on at least two of the recommended cuts in the NIFA-commissioned budget report, as well as several others, for a total savings of $6.5 million.

Almost $23.5 million in revenue that could fill the hole left by scrapping the fee increases would be found in sources that the county underestimated, according to Republicans. In their amendments, they contend that the county will see higher sales tax growth, for $5 million more in revenue, and an increase in traffic violations could make for $4.5 million more.

At Monday’s budget hearing, Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams said that his caucus would be willing to vote for the Republican amendments if the other side would support the creation of a $1.25 million independent inspector post to vet all county contracts and stop corruption at its inception.

“This is our opportunity, folks,” Abrahams said. “If we don’t seize it now, we’re culpable in going down the same path as before.”

“We don’t want to be dealing with corruption once it’s on the front page of the newspaper,” the Freeport Democrat later added.

Republicans demurred from the proposal, however, with Deputy Alternate Presiding Officer Howard Kopel telling Abrahams that the functions of an independent inspector general should be performed by the county’s commissioner of investigations, and by elected leaders.

Also, Kopel said, the legislature has, in the past year, “tightened up” its oversight of contracts, and that positions like an inspector general run the risk of “running amok” within the county bureaucracy.

“We have already pointed out, and you enthusiastically joined in on the subject of retroactive contracts,” he said. “Things need to be tightened up more, certainly, but we’re going in the right direction.”

Abrahams and the Democrats voted against the amended budget, after Republicans turned down their request for the inspector general post.

This budget “does not protect Nassau County taxpayers against the millions of dollars that are at risk for fraud,” Abrahams said.

In its statement, NIFA said that its members were willing to work with legislators to achieve a budget balanced to the board’s satisfaction.

“For years, NIFA has consistently worked to end the practice of using borrowed money to pay for operating expenses,” the statement read. “NIFA is reaching out and making itself available for a constructive dialogue to offer a path forward.”

Last year, NIFA rejected the first legislature-amended budget submitted to them by Mangano, and only accepted it after similar fee hikes were included and a number of cuts were made, including local government assistance.

Mangano’s office did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the future of the amended budget.