By Dave Vieser
As Nassau County lurches towards two key budget submission deadlines, a series of maneuvers by the county administration has left lawmakers confused and angry, and some employees wondering whether they will still have a job next year.
Meanwhile, the state oversight panel, known as NIFA (Nassau Interim Finance Authority) is monitoring every step, poised to move in and establish a full control-board format if the county is unable or unwilling to clean up its own fiscal house of horrors.
Within the past several weeks:
- Sources within the county revealed that County Executive Thomas S. Gulotta had reached an understanding in principle with the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) over a new five-year labor contract which will provide a 20.5% wage increase over the life of the contract. The purported $60 million savings included in the tentative pact was immediately greeted with skepticism by legislators and fiscal analysts.
- On virtually the same day, Mr. Gulotta sent letters to some of the county
