It’s no secret, Nassau County is in dire financial straights.
According to the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, of which I am a director since July, the 2016 proposed budget has an estimated baseline gap of about $160 million.
As alarming as that number is, it’s just one year.
The proposed multi-year financial plan for years 2016-2019 has an estimated baseline gap of almost $1 billion.
NIFA rejected this plan at its Nov. 19 meeting. Considering Nassau is among the wealthiest counties in the United States, these future deficits are hard to fathom.
Typically, when faced with huge revenue and expense discrepancies, governments slash services or raise taxes and fees. Nassau County elected officials have chosen to raise fees, which is nothing more than a veiled attempt to raise taxes without threatening re-electability.
In the past, Nassau has relied heavily on sales tax to balance its budget. However, sales tax revenue will continue to decline because of growing online commerce. In short, if we want to preserve services and budget effectively it’s time to get creative.
I suggest implementing the following revenue generating and cost cutting ideas to help close future deficits:
First, Nassau should impose a 14 percent transient occupancy surcharge on all rentals less than 29 days on websites such as Airbnb and VRBO (vacation rentals by owner).
San Francisco, population 838,000, has added such a surcharge, generating roughly $12 million per year.
Nassau County, population 1,352,000, should be able to generate substantial revenue too.
In Nassau, there is a thriving summer rental home business on these websites and this additional revenue can easily be captured. Nassau hotels and motels wouldn’t mind the transient occupancy surcharge, because these surcharges would level the playing field for the local hospitality industry.
Second, Nassau should reduce the number of county employees (currently 282) who take vehicles home, and restrict usage of these vehicles to key personnel only.
This would save on lease payments, insurance and gas. Also, to save on wear and tear on the vehicles, employees shouldn’t be able to take them out of Nassau without permission.
Third, the 2011 Grant Thorton report suggested going fully to direct deposit for all employees, instead of printing paychecks.
This is projected to save $250,000 per year in payroll costs alone.
Fourth, all county computers should be set to hibernate after 30 minutes, and monitors set to sleep after 10 minutes. Power strips need to be set to power down all computers at night.
The Green Business Bureau believes this will save more than $200 per workstation per year.
In the same spirit of being green Nassau should conduct an energy audit of every county property. Air conditioning should be set at 74° in the summer, and heat at 68° in the winter.
Carnegie Mellon University hired IBM’s Building Management Systems to implement these and other energy saving strategies, and they saved $2 million a year on energy costs.
Fifth, Nassau County needs to promote tourism. This will stimulate the local economy and increase sales tax revenue.
One way to do this is to create a Tour de France style bike race from Long Beach to Montauk.
A large event like this would attract the world’s best in the sport. It could even grow to become an annual event that could have multi-million dollar sponsorships and TV revenue, all owned by Nassau.
Building on what we already have, Belmont Stakes should become a week-long festival with top music, food, wine and sporting events. Furthermore, cruise ships, and travelers in general, should be encouraged to come here, to explore Nassau’s top golf and beach destinations.
New York City received 56 million tourists last year, which generated $61.3 billion in economic impact. Imagine the economic activity and increased sales tax revenue if tourism became a competitive industry in Nassau.
Sixth, we need to sell naming rights for county buildings and sports facilities.
Hospitals raise large sums of money that way, and corporate sponsors would be attracted to advertise to the rich demographics of our community.
Finally, many cities encourage municipal workers to make efficiency suggestions. If implemented they get a small stipend. Who knows how to do things more efficiently than those on the job everyday?
Local residents should be encouraged to do the same. I created NassauSuggestionBox.com in 2011 for that very purpose.
Since its inception, many residents have posted fantastic suggestions.
One suggestion posted, recycling Christmas trees to rebuild dunes in Long Beach after SuperStorm Sandy, proved extremely helpful and was implemented.
For more useful ideas, I encourage you to check out NassauSuggestionBox.com.
We are all in this together. It’s time to get creative, to find ways to generate revenue and keep taxes to a minimum.
If we do, we have a real shot at a balanced budget that provides the level of services we’ve all come to expect and enjoy.
