Three Republican Nassau County Legislators seeking re-election recently mailed a postcard at taxpayer expense to constituents, titled “Holding the Line on Property Taxes!”
Beneath it were three boxes – one for each year since 2011 – that stated “Tax increase” and beneath it in orange “0%.” Beneath the 0% for 2015 was small print that said “For households making less than $500K.”
There were two problems with the mailing.
The first was the obvious use of taxpayer money for political purposes — in a county that has spent 15 years under state supervision for financial mismanagement and faces a $48 million deficit in 2015.
The second was that the mailing’s claims were false. County property taxes went up 3.4 percent in 2015.
Under what definition of keeping constituents informed are false claims included?
The three lawmakers included Legislature Presiding Officer Norman Glansalves — the top official in the Legislature — and Legislator Donald MacKenzie, whose 18th District includes parts of Roslyn.
Dean Hart, MacKenzie’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 3 election, asked the state comptroller and attorney general to investigate “the blatant misuse of taxpayer money.”
A spokesman for state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said the office had received the complaint and were reviewing it.
With less than two weeks left before the election, DiNapoli should waste no time in making a ruling.
For their part, the Republican legislators — people who make laws in Nassau County — have attempted to argue that down is up in defending the mailing.
They contend that a state tax rebate for homeowners negates the county property tax hike for homeowners who earn less than $500,000.
The problem with this claim is that homeowners would have received the rebate even if taxes hadn’t increased.
The Republican legislators either believe — or hope — Nassau County voters are not well informed, not very smart or both.
MacKenzie, according to Newsday, said Hart’s request “is nothing more than a campaign tactic to distract voters from the real issues. We will continue our legitimate communications with our constituents with our constituents about our achievements.”
Sorry, Mr. MacKenzie, but the improper spending of county taxpayer money on false claims for political purposes is not a distraction from real issues. It is, or should be, one of the main issues of the campaign.
This mailing was, by no means, the first time that county legislators had campaigned on the taxpayer’s dime. In fact, in Nassau County this is known as business as usual.
Former Democratic Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice had urged the county ethics board to develop rules about government mailings, but the ethics board took no action.
Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas twice urged county lawmakers to institute restrictions but none were implemented.
Following the most recent mailings, Singas asked for an investigation by federal prosecutors.
The mailings do not rise to the status of high crimes, but they do speak of a mindset of anything goes — even with taxpayer money.
If the prosecutors don’t fix this problem, and county lawmakers won’t fix this problem then voters ought to do something about the lawmakers.
