Posted on 01/27/2011 12:59:36 PM PST by SeekAndFind
A state oversight board on Wednesday seized control of Nassau County's finances, saying the county, one of the nation's wealthiest and most heavily taxed, had nonetheless failed to balance its $2.7 billion budget.
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."The county's 2011 budget is built on a foundation of sand," a board member, George J. Marlin, said.
The move, which came after months of steadily more ominous threats and a downgrade of Nassau's debt by a credit-rating agency in November, turns the oversight board into a control board, with vast power to rewrite the county's budget and veto labor contracts, borrowings and other important financial commitments.
The county executive, a Republican, had been saying the budget was balanced and that all is well for months. The oversight board made him out to be a liar in record time:
Mr. Mangano had repeatedly said the budget was balanced, and then insisted there were ample contingencies to cover any shortfalls. But the authority said that many of his assertions were unfounded or unsupportable.Should the county choose to work closely with the authority, it could seek to reopen talks with labor unions, emboldened and newly empowered by that alliance. But the response from the county on Wednesday was adversarial in tone.
"Who elected them?" asked the county attorney, John Ciampoli, referring to the authority.
Mr. Mangano, speaking to reporters after the board's decision, said he was considering a lawsuit to block the takeover, accused the authority of wanting to raise property taxes and urged taxpayers to question its "motivation." He has accused the board members of having partisan Democratic sympathies.
Republican, Democratic, it doesn't matter. Politicians who can't face up to their responsibilities - especially in the 10th richest county in American - deserve to be treated as children and supervised to make sure they behave.
Expect a lot more of this kind of thing nationwide.
A bankrupt state trying to foist fiscal responsibility on a county that it claims has an unbalanced budget? Why do I feel that something is rotten in Denmark...
Something smells really stinky here. This has political hack job (AKA powergrab) written all over it.
Nassau County legislature and executive have insisted that their budget is balanced while the NIFA insists it isn't. Who to believe?
The only financial opinion I would trust here is a completely independent accounting firm's audit ( and please, no Arthur Andersons or Ernst and Young's ).
We had schools. We had police. We had sewers. We had garbage and snow removal. We had nice parks. I cannot think of anything that a family now living in the house I grew up in might get from the government that we did not get.
These are times which try men's souls.
ML/NJ
The county I live in, Middlesex, Massachusetts, is also one of the wealthiest in the nation. The county government was older than the United States. They literally went bankrupt a few years ago, even though counties in Massachusetts have very few responsibilities. Basically, they had a county hospital that was such a hackerama money pit that they bankrupted the county. The State (or “Commonwealth” as they fashion themselves) stepped in disolved the county government.
RE: These are times which try men’s souls.
This is what happened -— The people working for Nassau County got complacent and the Unions got greedy.
I would say most of Nassau County’s troubles come as a result of the overgenerous pension and medical benefits of those who work for the county from teachers to clerks to policemen, most of who can retire after 20 years of work.
So, you become a policeman at age 22, and you are eligible for full pension at 42. $34,000 Annual Starting Salary — $108,132 after 8 years!
Don’t believe me ? Go to the Nassau County web site :
http://www.police.co.nassau.ny.us/recruitment.htm
Who is going to pay for this if not tax payers ( most of whom are paying 5 digit property taxes !!).
If this system doesn’t change, what used to be a great place to live in will no longer be that.
I had a good friend of mine back in the early 90s in the service that was from there. There was another guy from Brooklyn that gave him endless grief about it. He was an OK guy too.
I had a good friend of mine back in the early 90s in the service that was from there. There was another guy from Brooklyn that gave him endless grief about it. He was an OK guy too.
I had a good friend of mine back in the early 90s in the service that was from there. There was another guy from Brooklyn that gave him endless grief about it. He was an OK guy too.
My husband’s parents live in Nassau County. Over the course of three years they pay more in property taxes than they paid for the whole house back in ‘73
That is what I thought as well. It’s a Republican the State Democrats are “straightening out” on an over spending problem. Give me a break.
Here’s a background for those who don’t know it ...
Nassau County is NOT (repeat NOT ) on the brink of bankrupcy or insolvency.
There is a background to this story and how NIFA was created and why it is acting like this at this time...
Nassau’s government has long been plagued by a tangled property tax-assessment system that forces it to refund tens of millions of dollars a year to residents and business owners who win appeals of their local, school and county tax bills. In effect, the county subsidizes some of the nation’s richest school districts.
The county first got into deep trouble a decade ago by borrowing to pay those refunds, though they are an operating expense, and by relying on one-shot revenues, rather than raising taxes. It averted disaster only with a $100 million state bailout in June 2000. As a condition of that aid, the state created the oversight board, NIFA to ensure that Nassau corrected its poor fiscal practices.
NIFA has been examining the books in Nassau County, just outside New York City, to determine if the county is at risk of running a 1 percent or higher deficit on its $2.6 billion budget.
County executive Ed Mangano (A Republican who defeated two term Democrat, Tom Suozzi) had repeatedly said the budget was balanced, and then insisted there were ample contingencies to cover any shortfalls. But NIFA said that many of his assertions were unfounded or unsupportable.
And here is what worries me ( a Nassau County resident ):
In a lengthy text explaining its decision, the authority said that Mr. Mangano’s signature tax cut — the repeal of a tax on home-heating fuel — was one of several factors that stretched the county’s ability to balance its budget to the “breaking point.”
If the NIFA takes over our budget, YOU CAN BE SURE THAT TAXES WILL BE RAISED ( instead of the spending cuts that are needed ).
Mr. Mangano, in his news conference, questioned why the authority had refrained from imposing a wage freeze. And he insisted that a takeover was unwarranted, pointing to an 11th-hour tentative labor agreement with a county worker’s union, announced on Monday, that he said would mean tens of millions in annual county savings.
The NIFA response that a wage freeze will only save $2 Million for 2011.
Could it be Mr. Mangano was pulling a Chris Cristie and threatening the unions’ pensions/pay/vacations/benefits??? What is the WHOLE story ??
But who is telling the truth here ? Should we believe NIFA or the folks at Nassau County regarding the finances?
Personally I TRUST NEITHER. Both are political entities.
I want an INDEPENDENT AUDIT from a TRUSTED, NON-POLITICAL THIRD PARTY.
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