by Leslie Gonzalez
Both mayors are members of the Nassau County Village Officials Association, which is composed of 64 incorporated villages in Nassau representing nearly 450,000 people.
We speak to majority leaders, state Senate and Assembly members, and express what our needs are as villages, Mayor Panzarella said of the annual legislative meeting in Albany sponsored by the New York Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials. Our goal is to increase state aid to villages, and to restore levels made available during the 1980's and early 90's, which was about four times what it is now.
Two primary finance issues that Nassau village officials have been fighting for are the prohibition of unfunded state mandates, which would prohibit state-enforced work on local municipalities unless funding is provided, and the repeal of the Wicks Law, which if dismissed would allow local governments the option to use the single-contract method for public projects costing in excess of $50,000. Currently in Lynbrook, construction contracts must be assigned to separate electrical, plumbing, heating/air conditioning and general contracting companies.
These separations add as much as one-third to the cost of the operation, said Lynbrook's Scarpato, vice president of the Nassau village officials' group.
At the Albany conference, the Nassau officials advocated more CHIPS funding for road repairs, which has been drastically reduced over the past several years; uniform county enforcement of delinquent property taxes, and ensuring that villages get a piece of the sales tax that is now distributed by the state to all towns and cities. Being a partner in receiving sales-tax revenue is something Nassau villages recently got the county to agree to.
A couple of health and environmental issues the Nassau village officials have lobbied for are protection of drinking water, including local regulation of commercial application of lawn pesticides, and funding for pollution prevention. The group also supports clean vehicle and energy technologies, and the preservation of brownfields, or protected lands.
The group is also seeking the passage of the State Telecommunications Legislation, which would seek payment from currently untaxed utilities that occupy village properties. Also sought are administrative search warrants, and payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT payments) for community residences.
Employee-relations issues addressed at the meeting included compulsory arbitration between villages and service organizations, such as local police or public works groups, which means having a judge settle contract disputes; and promoting people by open competitive examinations, including proper selection of village employees from the civil service list.
