Nassau Leaders React to NIFA Takeover

If you’ve ever seen County Executive Ed Mangano seethe, Wednesday was a prime example.

Following the unanimous 6-0 vote from the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) to issue a control period for the county finances, Mangano called the move “premature, unfounded and unnecessary.”

Surrounded by fellow Republican Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt and County Comptroller George Maragos, Mangano said he was concerned with NIFA’s motivation over what it claims is a $176-million budget deficit, especially since the state watchdog did not exercise its ability to freeze wages on union contracts.

NIFA did, however, stop the county’s ability to borrow funds to pay for its day-to-day operations until tax revenues begin to flow in.

Mangano called the takeover a bid to discredit his administration and force his hand to raise property taxes to make up for lost revenue. However, he vowed to do “all that is necessary” to avoid raising Nassau's property taxes and confirmed that the county would proceed with legal action against NIFA in an attempt to stop the takeover.

“It appears that their only objection is the elimination of real property tax increases that we have taken out of this budget,” Mangano said.

“This is a sad day for Nassau County,” Minority Leader Diane Yatauro, D-Glen Cove, said in a statement urging the administration and legislature to cooperate with the oversight board. “We are entering uncharted waters. NIFA control will alter how we conduct our business. It will affect the lives of our workforce and our residents.”

As part of the takeover, NIFA gains the authority to oversee and approve all county contracts and must sign off on any borrowing done by the county.

On his first day in office, Mangano signed a bill eliminating an unpopular home energy tax and plans to increase property taxes by 16.5 percent.

“What is their motivation?” Mangano asked of the NIFA Board of Directors. “To force this administration to raise real property taxes? We are concerned that they are not participating to cutting expenses.”

NIFA would only be able to freeze wages after declaring a “fiscal crisis,” a move expected to garner $10 million in savings.

In enacting the takeover, NIFA Chairman Ronald Stack said that a “likelihood and imminence” existed for the county to run into debt in the 2011 fiscal budget, namely $364 million in projected borrowing by the county to pay for property tax settlements over the next two years.

Mangano has maintained that the 2011 budget is balanced and that the county ended 2010 with a $5 million surplus. The county had submitted six letters detailing what it says are various contingencies including selling county-owned property in Mitchel Field and reduced staff levels.

The county also announced on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with its largest union group-the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)-to cut costs on all future employee hires. The new contract is said to save $70 million through 2017, including $61 million by slashing salaries 11.4 percent from their current levels during employees’ first seven years on the job.

Despite the county executive’s statement that his administration will comply with the law to give NIFA a revised budget, the county will also move forward with legal proceedings against the entity, a move Schmitt said he is delighted to see happen.

“There’s no basis in fact for NIFA to act ... and they have an agenda,” he said. “This is nothing more than a coup. They are an ethically challenged group.”