Board submits Coliseum vote language
The Nassau Coliseum. (June 18, 2011) Credit: Howard Schnapp
The Nassau County Board of Elections has submitted proposed language for an Aug. 1 ballot referendum to borrow up to $400 million to build a new Nassau Coliseum and minor league ballpark.
The referendum question hews closely to the language approved by the Nassau legislature in late May.
The public will be asked whether to approve setting up the "Nassau County Hub Area Development Program" and authorizing spending up to $400 million for the development. Those funds would be bonded by the county and spent exclusively on Hub area construction projects, including the hockey arena and baseball park.
The referendum also spells out that, if approved, a line on the property tax bills of Nassau homeowners would be dedicated to paying the debt service on the project.
The Office of Legislative Budget Review has projected that cost at about $58 annually on the average homeowner's property tax bill.
The referendum's wording also sets up a special revenue fund dedicated to the repayment of the interest and principal on the bonds.
The language has been submitted to the county attorney's office and the clerk of the legislature for approval. The legislature will not vote again on the text of the referendum. County Attorney John Ciampoli confirmed Friday that his office had received the language.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
