News: Nassau County Executive Plans to Cut 700 Jobs
(Long Island, N.Y.) Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano released statements in a press conference that included plans to cut seven hundred jobs. The plan will also be used to combine police precincts and force employees to contribute twenty-five percent of the costs for health insurance. The changes are designed to help close a $310 million budget shortage projected for next year.
Mangano also stated that there will be no property tax increases for the 2012 fiscal year. Reports claimed that there are currently 8,410 employees and legislators and the plan to cut jobs is still awaiting approval. The Nassau County Executive also stated that the budget would end a trend of taxing and spending, which is a behavior that has brought Long Island residents to where we are today.
Sources also claimed that Nassau County would require a thirty-nine percent tax hike without the cuts; Nassau County already has the highest taxes in the nation. The county executive also reported his belief that the problems are not tax driven, but rather address the issue of spending. He later described Nassau County’s problems as real and systemic with very limited options in fixing.
Mangano later described our tax assessment system as antiquated and pointed out that it has wasted billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money. Reports stated that some of the positive steps that have been taken to balance the budget include precinct consolidation, desk job elimination, and utilization of money saving technologies. There will also be a reduction in the minimum required staff for each precinct, which augments a rule by union contracts.
A Nassau Police Benevolent Association President described the plan as destructive and accused it of compromising the public safety of Nassau County. The county eliminated around three hundred total positions in the early summer in addition to freezing employees’ wages. The Nassau Interim Finance Authority had declared a fiscal emergency and ordered the action.
Many believe that the crisis, which caused the cut backs, has resulted from the recession as well as unsustainable union agreements. The broken tax assessment system was also blamed for the numerous shortcomings.
Many residents have made it clear that they blame Mangano for the problems that are being addressed today. One stated that he believed the county executive was responsible for the monetary issues that have accumulated. However, many defend the Mangano Administration, and blame his predecessors for the ongoing problems.
