By Dan Israeli
The report is a list of reform recommendations for local government, three of which are pertinent to the county's many special taxing districts.
These recommendations call for an end to compensation for special district commissioners, the consolidation of all sanitation districts under town management and a requirement of "local consideration" in commissioner-run districts. All of the report's 76 recommendations, which were kept out of the state budget, can now be acted on as separate pieces of legislation.
State Sen. Craig M. Johnson, who served on the commission, wrote a letter to its chairman, Stan Lundine, the day the report was released, expressing his concerns about it. Johnson wrote that he felt the report did not take into account the "regional nature of government and services in New York State" and was too broad-based in its recommendations.
"Every area in New York is very different," Johnson said. "Nassau County is very different from Upstate New York, and this report failed to consider the uniqueness of Nassau County. We have to look at these issues on more of a case-by-case basis and not make broad statements. I don't like using a slash-and-burn approach."
Johnson also said he felt that the report did not have a proper cost analysis of the advantages of consolidating sanitation districts under town management, which is especially relevant in Nassau County, where 16 of 24 sanitation districts are managed by independently elected commissioners. "There is no tangible proof that you can save money," said Johnson, who argued that no consolidation should take place without taxpayers in special districts being made aware of how much they would save if they switched to town service, and how much they would lose in quality of service.
Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, however, said he believes that the cost benefits of consolidation are evident. Weitzman, who also served on the commission, has devised his own analysis of sanitation districts in Nassau County through audits. He concluded that commissioner-run districts are poorly managed and cost residents more than town-run sanitation districts. Weitzman calculated that the Town of Hempstead alone could save $18 million by consolidating.
"These special taxing district reforms will translate into lower government spending and tax relief for Nassau residents," Weitzman said. "I am very optimistic that these reforms will get the support they need from our legislators because we all want to save taxpayer money."
The consolidation of sanitation districts has already received the support of Paterson, who included the recommendation in his program bill. The legislation will now need to pass the state Legislature, most likely going through the Senate and Assembly committees on local government.
Weitzman and Johnson both opposed the recommendation that local control be considered for all commissioner-run districts. The reform calls for town and county officials to make efforts to restructure and improve the management of special districts during a five-year period, after which the municipality in question would vote to either continue using special district services or switch to town management.
Voting on special districts dates back to 1932, when the state reorganized town governments, mandating that newly formed "special improvement districts" be managed directly under town government. The state, however, allowed those districts to hold referendums in which residents could decide on maintaining their commissioner-run services. In the end, many did.
Nassau County Board of Assessors Chairman Harvey Levinson did not serve on the commission, but did call for its creation in 2004. Levinson has never shied away from the issue of special districts, and believes that all of the state's commissioner-run districts should be dissolved. It is his contention that taxpayers in areas with special districts are paying up to 100 percent more than some of their neighboring communities receiving town service.
"Unfortunately, there is no way you can truly save our overburdened taxpayers real money, unless you bite the political bullet and change the system," Levinson said. "It has been my experience that many special district commissioners operate with little accountability and react negatively when they feel their authority and existence is being examined or challenged."
Johnson said he did agree with much of the report. "I do believe this report contains a number of positive initiatives," he said. "I also believe that true reforms to the laws governing local governments are needed to provide relief to taxpayers by making our system more efficient and by curbing the abuses of the system that have shaken their trust."
Weitzman also agreed with the notion of making taxpayers more aware of special districts, noting another recommendation that would have all special-district elections scheduled in May or November, to coincide with school budget and federal elections. "I have been seeing a groundswell of support for these reforms from the hard-pressed homeowners of Nassau County," Weitzman said. "The climate for change is in the air."
Levinson still seeks greater change, explaining that even under town management, commissioner-run districts would continue to exist as separate taxing entities. He believes that consolidation will not solve the problem of uneven tax rates in Nassau County, and that a more comprehensive plan of replacing services, and ridding the state of commissioner-run special districts, is needed.
"Commission chair Stan Lundine told the citizens of New York State that 'we want to encourage leaders to be bold' as we look to reform the way government taxes and provides services," Levinson said. "But unless more radical cost-saving approaches on dealing with the hundreds of special taxing districts are reviewed and adopted, the recommendations of the current committee will become nothing more than a footnote in a long line of politically safe proposals that have been offered time and time again."
Comments about this? DIsraeli@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.
