Home
Classifieds
Coupons
Contests
Subscribe
Work with us
|
Pro and con on Nassau Coliseum redevelopment
(Page 4 of 4)
The Wang-Reckson plan fizzled owing to inside baseball in the Town of Hempstead. I won’t go into the details because that’s water under the bridge, but I want to remind county taxpayers that we came close to getting a new Coliseum financed entirely by private enterprise. That’s the solution we need to pursue today, because the county can’t afford to take on $400 million in new debt to pay for this project. If voters approve this massive bond on Aug. 1, the county will have to pay about $26 million in debt service every year for the next 30 years. In return, the county will receive about $14 million in profits from the new Coliseum. That would leave taxpayers on the hook for $12 million to cover the rest of the debt service — every year for the next 30 years. Unless my calculator is broken, Mangano must be stringing us along when he says his Coliseum plan wouldn’t cost taxpayers a thing. It’s hard enough to raise a family on Long Island. Our finances are already stretched to the limit by the cost of owning a home, sending our children to school and paying the taxes that accompany all of these things. We can’t afford to increase our property-tax bills by paying for a project that Mr. Wang could easily finance himself. Nassau County is proud to be the home of the Islanders. We’d love to have a new arena, but we simply don’t have the money — not in the county’s coffers, not in our overstretched budget and certainly not in taxpayers’ pockets.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Jacobs is pursuing a political agenda against the Republican leadership in Nassau County. The proof of this is the fact that his letter ignores facts that prove a YES vote is the only sane vote for the betterment of Nassau County.
1) he neglects to report that a bipartisan financial revise board of Nassau County has reported that under the WORST CASE SCENARIO, the cost to the taxpayer is $13.80 per household per year (26 cents per week). Moreover, some studies have predicted a profit to the taxpayer based on the 11.5 % revenue sharing plan.
2) Today's Newsday reported that if the Islanders leave and the Coliseum closes (highly likely without a tenant to anchor it) the cost to the taxpayer would be $16 per household per year (MORE than worst case scenario above).
3) mr. Jacobs ignores the fact that this project will create jobs.
4) Loss of the Islanders causes a loss of revenue to the County, estimated at $234 million per year, as reported by Newsday last week.
5) Mr. Jacobs argument that Mr. Wang should pay 100 percent for a new arena ignores 2 facts: a) he may actually do so. He will at minimum be paying for more than half of it and if the revenue sharing comes in as projected by Camion, he will have paid for the entire cost and then some; b) this is despite the fact that Mr. Wang will not own the new arena but will be a tenant.
6) Mr. Jacobs letter leaves out the fact that in addition to the minimum $14M per year Mr. Wang will pay, there will be additional tax revenue to the county of $4.9 M.
In my experience when facts are omitted or massaged it is because if ALL the relevant facts are known, there is only one logical conclusion. That is the case here. Unless you have a political agenda or vendetta, or are a member of a special interest group, the only sane vote for the betterment of Nassau County is a YES vote.
Jacobs-
Let the people decide. Thats who you serve...not your own self-interest.
These days politicans are whats wrong with this country.