Last week, the fiscal control board that has overseen the county’s finances since the year 2000 rejected its 2017 budget and directed County Executive Edward Mangano and the Legislature to find $36 million in spending cuts or revenue.
This followed county legislators’ decision to cut a $105 fee on traffic and parking tickets proposed by Mangano to $55 on traffic tickets and eliminate the charge on parking tickets.
In doing so, the Legislature took a terrible idea and replaced it with merely a bad one.
Traffic and parking tickets are already too high with red-light tickets currently carrying a cost of $95 and most other tickets, from parking violations to illegal turns, costing between $110 and $225.
This is hardly a way to encourage people in and out of Nassau County to shop here.
Especially in local shopping districts and especially at a time when a decline in sales tax revenues is adding to the county’s budget woes.
But the $55 fee was not the reason NIFA rejected the budget.
NIFA objected instead to the GOP legislators’ plan to fill a $36 million shortfall caused by cutting the fee.
That plan called for “partial amnesty” for businesses that have not complied with a 2013 county law requiring them to report their income and expenses in a timely manner to pay only 75 percent of their accrued fines.
The only problem, as NIFA noted, is that the 2013 law is under court challenge.
Republican legislators later came back with a proposal to increase the tax map verification fee from $225 to $355.
They said they would fill the remaining shortfall of $21 million by eliminating funding for youth programs and bus subsidies — apparently in the belief that people who ride buses already have it too easy.
Mangano followed this week with his plan to cut $21 million, which included the cuts to bus service.
We have our own, modest solution — get rid of the county Legislature.
We know that giving the Legislature a mere 16 years to correct the county’s financial problems seems too soon to some and will be the first to acknowledge problems with this solution.
The first is the amount of money.
In the county’s 2016 budget — titled “2016 Property Tax Freeze Credit Adopted Budget” — the county share of the budget came to only $9 million, admittedly not enough to cover this year’s deficit by itself.
A second problem is that by eliminating the Legislature, the county is left with Mangano, who was recently arrested on charges of political corruption, to lead the government. Mangano maintains his innocence.
The county’s leadership is further clouded by the fact that the person who would replace Mangano if he should to step down, deputy County Executive Rob Walker, admitted during the political corruption trial of then state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos that he was under federal investigation for his handling of a county contract. Skelos was convicted of political corruption in connection with a county contract awarded to a company that employed his son.
On the other hand, the county Legislature has not exactly been vigilant in overseeing county spending and Republican legislators have blocked needed reforms.
In 2013, a $200,000 no-bid contract was awarded to a firm operated by former Republican state Sen. Michael Balboni without legislative approval because the Legislature failed to conduct a review within 45 days as required by law.
The Legislature also stood by as hundred of contracts were approved by Mangano that fell just under the $25,000 threshold for its review before eventually lowering the limit to $1,000.
Following the Skelos indictments, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas launched an investigation into the awarding of county contracts that discovered “troubling problems,” including no requirements for vendors to disclose subsidiary companies, criminal convictions, political contributions or whether a vendor is barred from government contracts in other places.
She, Democratic Nassau County legislators and the head of a panel appointed by Mangano to review the county’s handling of contractors called for independently appointed, inspector general to oversee county contracts.
But Mangano chose instead to hire a compliance chief to improve accountability of his own choosing.
Singas called the plan “woefully inadequate.” Republican legislators thought this was a swell idea.
Despite this dismal record, we can understand why there might be some reluctance to get rid of the county Legislature.
So we have an alternative: get rid of NIFA.
True, NIFA has often been the sole voice of reason since it was established in 2000 after the county couldn’t pay its bills and received a state bailout.
But Nassau County Republicans have historically had little to worry about in county elections — despite’s the county’s finances and a Democratic edge in voter registration.
In fact, the last time — the only time in decades — that Democrats controlled the Legislature and the county executive’s seat was after the county’s financial meltdown in 2000. And things did get better under then County Executive Tom Suozzi.
Perhaps that’s what is needed in 2016. Leave the finances to Mangano and the Legislature and let the chips fall where they may.
If the Legislature solves its financial problems everyone will be happy.
If they don’t, perhaps voters will vote out the Republicans. Or get rid of the Legislature entirely.
Our Views: Modest proposal for county gov
