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If they takeover, what exactly will NIFA do? Freeze salaries may not even be enough. Are they in bed with the unions? Looks to me like the unions, nifa albany and everyone else is out to make this a political stunt to discredit Mangano. Why are they playing games on our dime?
AFAIK, NIFA are not politicians and do not play those games (they are not elected and don't need union support) and they are strictly going by the numbers. If the numbers get too bad, NIFA is going to do the work to get them back to acceptable levels.
I also do not think this has anything to do with anybody trying to discredit Mangano. I think he just has the misfortune to be in office and trying to save on taxes for Nassau residents when the numbers started to get too low.
AFAIK, NIFA are not politicians and do not play those games (they are not elected and don't need union support) and they are strictly going by the numbers. If the numbers get too bad, NIFA is going to do the work to get them back to acceptable levels.
I also do not think this has anything to do with anybody trying to discredit Mangano. I think he just has the misfortune to be in office and trying to save on taxes for Nassau residents when the numbers started to get too low.
When it comes down to it Mangano basically campaigned on a platform that wasn't compatible with the fiscal reality of Nassau County, especially during a time period when the economy isn't strong and sales tax revenues are off as a result.
His choices now are either to break his campaign promises to seriously tackle the fiscal situation the county is facing, or keep his campaign promises of stopping the previously proposed increases and have the deficit climb and NIFA take over as a result.
If the numbers get too bad, NIFA is going to do the work to get them back to acceptable levels.
What will NIFA do to get them back to acceptable levels? Raise taxes? Cut spending? Freeze salaries has to be a given.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smash255
When it comes down to it Mangano basically campaigned on a platform that wasn't compatible with the fiscal reality of Nassau County, especially during a time period when the economy isn't strong and sales tax revenues are off as a result.
His choices now are either to break his campaign promises to seriously tackle the fiscal situation the county is facing, or keep his campaign promises of stopping the previously proposed increases and have the deficit climb and NIFA take over as a result.
We can blame it on sales taxes and the economy 'til the cows come home. We both know the underlying problem here is the pensions. They simply devised a system that does not work when the economy tanks. Too optimistic if you ask me. That's why the private sector nixed defined benefit plans. C'mon, give an inch and admit it (psst- I already know, so it's okay if you are afraid to admit the reality of the situation). Remember the example of houses going to near -$0- and everyone in the county will witness the limit to tax increases when they do hit $0.
Just curious, what will NIFA do exactly when it comes in and takes over?
What will NIFA do to get them back to acceptable levels? Raise taxes? Cut spending? Freeze salaries has to be a given.
We can blame it on sales taxes and the economy 'til the cows come home. We both know the underlying problem here is the pensions. They simply devised a system that does not work when the economy tanks. Too optimistic if you ask me. That's why the private sector nixed defined benefit plans. C'mon, give an inch and admit it (psst- I already know, so it's okay if you are afraid to admit the reality of the situation). Remember the example of houses going to near -$0- and everyone in the county will witness the limit to tax increases when they do hit $0.
Just curious, what will NIFA do exactly when it comes in and takes over?
The Pensions are certainly a problem, no question about it, but that is why the state's finances are messed up, not the county. Pensions are handled by the state, not the county.
As far as the homes go, you picked three homes. The overall median value is going to tell a much larger picture than any homes someone picks and chooses. Fact of the matter is, a key reason why values are off is due to the boom being so extreme. In fact out of the areas that had the insane type of real estate boom that Long Island and the rest of the NYC metro had only Northern VA hasn't been hit harder than LI. The other areas that saw those insane increases we did (Florida, Nevada, Arizona) have seen FAR FAR steeper drops in prices. Hell if you look back to about 10 years ago, the median prices on Long Island are still up about 70%.
Also again I'm not talking about a large increase here, I'm talking about what is basically a $60 increase per homeowner. Is it a good thing? No, of course not, but sometimes no other options are left. The county held the line on property taxes for 6 of the last 7 years, the year it increased was 3.9%. Something like that is actually quite rare for a municipality the size of Nassau County. However, it can't stay that way forever, especially once other revenue sources start declining (such as sales tax revenue). Something has to give. In fact the energy tax and Suozzi's planned 3.9% increase for 2011 came about due to concerns NIFA has over one of Suozzi's budgets towards the end of his tenure (not so much for that particular year, but future years)
So basically what happened was a few years ago NIFA voiced concerns over future budgets (especially 2011 and beyond). Suozzi came up with a few proposals to address NIFA's concerns. Mangano has since done away with the Suozzi proposals, but has yet to come up with a solution to address the revenue losses that result from doing away with Suozzi's proposals.
As far as NIFA's power and what they can do. I know they can freeze salaries and contracts. As far as raising taxes I'm not sure, but it was one of the things they were pushing for when they came very close to taking over the finances at the end of Gullota administration.
I don't think NIFA really wants to take over but giving Mangano one last chance makes sense and makes them look better if they do in fact takeover. The current budget is not even close to 1% and has too much optimism and not enough substance.
The pensions are controlled by the state but the shortfalls required increases in Village, and town taxes, I assume the county is responsible also.
The Pensions are certainly a problem, no question about it, but that is why the state's finances are messed up, not the county. Pensions are handled by the state, not the county.
As far as the homes go, you picked three homes.
It IS a nassau county problem Smash , we have to pay the pensions for the county workers that served us. Here's where the problem is below: ---- Also, I can find a hundred more like those 3 examples.
Quote:
NY State Pension Fund asks County for 45% increase in 2011 Contributions
Maragos calls on DiNapoli to recalculate Nassau’s share
Nassau County’s required contribution to the State Pension Fund is expected to skyrocket by about 45% or $43.6 million more next year. Comptroller George Maragos is asking for a full review and recalculation from State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The County paid $96.9 million in 2010 and has been notified that the amount for 2011 will be about $140.5 million.
"Paying 15% of the County’s payroll to the State Pension System is astounding. Demanding a 45% increase in pension contributions in just one year is unconscionable; more viable alternatives must be considered in tackling this problem,” Comptroller Maragos added. “We can not have a mandated system that leaves local governments with no alternative but to pay outrageous increases in contributions, without any recourse.”
The 2011 Pension contribution will be 14.9% of the total County payroll as shown on the attached table. The table also indicates that the County’s annual pension contribution as a percentage of payroll has been over 10% since 2005, an amount that should have caused concern and raised a red flag to both State and local officials.
"The Office of the State Comptroller must address the issue of escalating pension contributions from municipalities. The impact of these consistent rate hikes on local governments and their taxpayers are devastating,” Comptroller Maragos added. “The seniority of the civil employees and the possible ongoing “sub” investment performance of the State Pension Fund can be expected to cause further demands from the State Comptroller for more and larger pension contributions in the future. This will have catastrophic financial consequences for the taxpayers in Nassau County.”
Comptroller Maragos emphasized that, “New thinking is required. The current Defined Benefit Plans and Defined Contribution Plans which place all or most of the premium burden on the local government are not sustainable. Moreover, double digit rates as a percentage of payrolls are unsustainable.”
When it comes down to it Mangano basically campaigned on a platform that wasn't compatible with the fiscal reality of Nassau County, especially during a time period when the economy isn't strong and sales tax revenues are off as a result.
His choices now are either to break his campaign promises to seriously tackle the fiscal situation the county is facing, or keep his campaign promises of stopping the previously proposed increases and have the deficit climb and NIFA take over as a result.
We elected Mangano to bring about innovative thinking in order to solve Nassau's financial mess. Now we find out it was all rhetoric....ONCE AGAIN, another politician wasting our time...N-E-X-T!!!!
We elected Mangano to bring about innovative thinking in order to solve Nassau's financial mess. Now we find out it was all rhetoric....ONCE AGAIN, another politician wasting our time...N-E-X-T!!!!
Mangano was in the legislature for 14 years, and a very strong ally of Gullotta during the mid and late 90's. He never once came up with any innovative ideas or explained how he would do anything. Hell he never explained how he would make up for the revenue loss that was going to result from overturning a few of Suozzi's policies and proposals. Yet people thought he was going to be innovative?
I guess this means that you get all your information from the internet, that absolutely reliable source for absolutely everything you ever wanted to know. Try getting out from behind the computer and living life for a change. You'd be surprised at just how many real facts you can learn.
No, it means exactly what I said. Your perception is your reality. I don’t consider information provided by you as fact since you don’t provide any sources when asked. For me, that would account for the sarcastic “absolutely reliable source for absolutely everything you ever wanted to know”.
No, it means exactly what I said. Your perception is your reality. I don’t consider information provided by you as fact since you don’t provide any sources when asked. For me, that would account for the sarcastic “absolutely reliable source for absolutely everything you ever wanted to know”.
So that's how you explain your ignorance of facts. Interesting. You apparently have troubling comprehending that not every fact has an internet "source" that you can go to. Where do you think those authoritative "sources" -- like newspaper articles -- get their facts? They talk to people who actually do the work or who are responsible for ensuring the work is done. I'm simply cutting out the middle man for you. And for the record, I don't give a rat's *** whether you believe what I tell you or not.
You'll understand better when you're all grown up and get out from behind your computer a bit more often.
Last edited by pdcnret; 01-03-2011 at 04:28 PM..
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