In a party line vote, the Nassau County Legislature voted 11-7 Tuesday in favor of a GOP majority-amended 2016 budget, which removed a 1.2 percent property tax increase and cut two fee increases in half.
The Legislature voted 11-7 in favor of the majority’s amendments and 11-7 against the Democratic minority’s proposed amendments prior to voting on Nassay County Executive Edward Mangano’s proposed $2.95 billion budget,
Sixth District Legislator Francis Becker, a Republican, was absent from the vote due to a death in the family.
Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) said the majority’s changes “better reflect the priorities of our residents.”
The vote sets up a potential battle with the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state monitoring board in control of the county’s finances.
NIFA Chairman Jon Kaiman told Newsday that the amendments did not address $191 million in revenue assumptions.
“I am disappointed the Legislature finds it so easy to disconnect from Nassau County’s budget realities,” Kaiman said. “We are going to take the actions of the legislature seriously and anticipate moving forward with our responsibility to get the county’s finances in a better place sooner than later.”
The amended budget eliminates a property tax increase that would have resulted in $12 million in annual revenue and cut in half proposed increases to mortgage recording and tax map verification fees, which reduces $8 million from the budgeted revenue.
Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead) said Democrats pledge to override should Mangano veto the amendments
He said county Democrats were “equally opposed” to the fee increases proposed by Mangano, calling them “merely back door tax increases.”
Gonsalves said although they slashed the property tax increase, she would not make a commitment to override a Mangano veto.
“We will cross that bridge when it comes to it,” she sad. “We are not going to commit to an override.”
Mangano has 10 days to veto the budget from the time of the vote, which he did last year when the Legislature voted to remove a 3.4 percent tax increase.
The amendments also include raising $15.8 million by enforcing a law that fines commercial property owners who do not file business income and expense statements, as well as increasing revenue by $7 million for recovering outdated county contracts that were never spent.
The budget still includes $20 million in revenue from a video lottery terminal casino which does not have a location.
In their amendments, the Democratic minority removed the budgeted revenue from inclusion and Abrahams said the Democrats strongly opposed a casino in Nassau County.
“Let there be no mistake that the Democratic budget sends a message to the OTB and to all concerned, we do not want a casino and we do not want the casino revenue anywhere in the budget to help balance the county budget at the cost of destroying our quality of life anywhere in Nassau,” he said.
