New York State takes control of Nassau county finances (spokesman, solution, layoffs)

[HappyTexan]

Nope..not bankruptcy. The state took over and WILL balance that damn budget even if it means layoffs and vetoing labor contracts.
And this is the richest county in the state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/ny...u.html?_r=2&bl

"Many hard-hit local governments have flirted with insolvency because of revenue shortfalls caused by the recession, but the financial problems of Nassau, on Long Island, owed more to a failure by county officials to face up to tough economic reality responsibly and quickly enough, according to the state board"

[juppiter]

I'm a New Yorker, and I gotta say... the state government taking over doesn't offer them much hope. LOL.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by juppiter

I'm a New Yorker, and I gotta say... the state government taking over doesn't offer them much hope. LOL.

Yeah..but that's they best they can do other than bankruptcy.

[Smash255]

Mangano was elected on a Tea Party platform and cut taxes when he got into office, then stopped a proposed increase in taxes this year removed compensation caps put in place by Suozzi on retiring Police Officers (resulting in two top chiefs taking home over $850,000 on their last year on the force, and another a shade under $800,000. Nice work.....

[workingclasshero]

Suozzi killed the county


btw Nassau county ranks as one of the RICHEST counties in the ENTIRE nation

[Smash255]

Originally Posted by workingclasshero

Suozzi killed the county


btw Nassau county ranks as one of the RICHEST counties in the ENTIRE nation

The county was hurt by the decrease in the sales tax revenue. Mangano is doing the exact same things that Tom Gullotta did in the mid and late 90's which is what led to NIFA being set up in the first place by Pataki in 2000.

Mangano removing the energy tax without doing anything to offset the loss in revenue was a bad idea. Getting rid of the proposed 3.9% increase (about $60 per homeowner) was a bad idea with the sales tax revenue still lagging and cutting nothing. Removing the compensation cap on retiring Police Officers was an absolutely brutal idea.

[TylerJAX]

Corruption( I include exuberant compensation for public officials into this), inefficiency, and public workers unions plague public finances in NJ/NY. It's more or less fiscal suicide if they try ease the tax burden before they go after spending.

[eastwesteastagain]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

Nope..not bankruptcy. The state took over and WILL balance that damn budget even if it means layoffs and vetoing labor contracts.
And this is the richest county in the state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/ny...u.html?_r=2&bl

"Many hard-hit local governments have flirted with insolvency because of revenue shortfalls caused by the recession, but the financial problems of Nassau, on Long Island, owed more to a failure by county officials to face up to tough economic reality responsibly and quickly enough, according to the state board"

Actually, I'm pretty sure Suffolk County is still wealthier than Nassau County, but your point is still well taken. Nassau is definitely up there on the list of wealthy counties nationally. ETA: Ooops, I stand corrected - apparently Nassau beat out Suffolk since last I lived there (http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/6-10-richest-counties-us-are-dc-area (broken link)).

The state seems to have worked within the statutes re: conditions for taking over. I don't know that they'll do a better job balancing the budget, but at this point if the county level officials are unable or unwilling to do the jobs they were elected for, let's give the state a shot at it.

Anecdotally, my parents and family are still in Nassau (where I grew up) and have all manner of complaints about the inefficiency of local government and the exorbitant cost of living there.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by Smash255

The county was hurt by the decrease in the sales tax revenue. Mangano is doing the exact same things that Tom Gullotta did in the mid and late 90's which is what led to NIFA being set up in the first place by Pataki in 2000.

Mangano removing the energy tax without doing anything to offset the loss in revenue was a bad idea. Getting rid of the proposed 3.9% increase (about $60 per homeowner) was a bad idea with the sales tax revenue still lagging and cutting nothing. Removing the compensation cap on retiring Police Officers was an absolutely brutal idea.

Smash255..you are right up there in Long Island.
You're our "boots on the ground" with first hand knowledge of what's going on there with the local politics.

Thanks for giving us details.

[Smash255]

Mangano filed suit against the state in order to try and stop the NIFA takeover of the county's finances. A Mangano aide resigned in protest of the decision to sue.

Nassau County filed a lawsuit late Monday to block the Nassau Interim Finance Authority from taking control of the county's finances, County Executive Edward Mangano said.

Mangano's chief spokesman, Brian Nevin, said the suit had been filed with the clerk's office.

The board of NIFA voted unanimously last week to take immediate control of Nassau's finances, contending the county's 2011 budget contains a $176 million deficit - nearly seven times the 1 percent gap that triggered a takeover under state law.

After the lawsuit was filed, a top aide to Mangano, Deputy County Executive Pat Foye, resigned in protest. Foye said he had "the highest regard" for Mangano, but said it was "irresponsible and wrong" to sue the state and "smear duly appointed members of a state board created to help elected county officials fix Nassau.

The "suit against the state will be costly, very likely will fail and, most importantly, win or lose, will add nothing to a long-term solution of the county's many woes," Foye said in a statement e-mailed to reporters at 5:06 p.m., just at the time the county confirmed it had filed the suit. "The smears are false and reprehensible," the Foye statement said.

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