Nassau Executive Edward Mangano considers deep cuts to balance budget

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is considering steep spending cuts, including elimination of funding for youth services, bus subsidies and sales tax aid to local villages after a state control board's rejection last week of his $2.95 billion budget for 2016.

The Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state monitoring board in control of the county's finances, voted Nov. 19 to reject the budget, saying it relies on $81 million in risky revenue assumptions. NIFA sent it back to Mangano and legislative leaders for changes that are due by Nov. 30.

The move followed a vote by the GOP-controlled legislature to override Mangano's veto and strip from the budget a 1.2 percent property tax hike that would have generated $12 million in annual revenue.

Administration officials have targeted nearly $17.7 million in discretionary spending that could be cut, according to a list distributed to county lawmakers before the override vote.

It includes the elimination of $6.4 million for the county's Youth Board; $4.4 million in subsidies for the NICE bus service; $4.3 million to fund emergency and fire prevention training and the entire $1.2 million in sales tax revenue the county provides to 64 local villages.

"If the legislature works with the county executive, program and service cuts can be avoided," Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin said Saturday.

NIFA chairman Jon Kaiman called the proposed cuts "significant," but said they are still short of what may be needed to balance the budget.

Youth services

County Youth Board funding goes to 37 local nonprofits that serve 50,000 low- and middle-income children. Services include before- and after-school programs, homework assistance, delinquency and gang prevention, summer camps, mental health counseling and a suicide prevention hotline.

Youth Board spending is considered discretionary -- meaning it's not mandated by the state or federal government -- but nonprofit groups that get the money say they provide critical services.

"To say kids are a discretionary item for government is making a statement that doesn't sit right to me," said Peter Levy, president of the Nassau County Coalition of Youth Service Agencies, which represents the groups.

The groups also rely on county funds to gain matching state grants. If that disappears, Levy said, state aid may also be lost.

"If this money was not made available, many of the agencies will shut their doors," he said.

Several years ago, Youth Board funding was cut significantly during a partisan dispute over legislative redistricting and borrowing, but subsequently was largely restored.

Pat Boyle, executive director of Gateway Youth Outreach in Elmont, which receives $328,000 in county funding, plus matching state aid, said the cuts could force the closure of after-school programs that serve about 400 children. "Agencies are going to be wiped out this time," he said.

NICE Bus

The Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE Bus, receives nearly $7 million in annual subsidies from the county. Nassau would eliminate $4.45 million of the funding. NICE needs the remaining $2.5 million in county funds to qualify for $63 million in funds from the state.

NICE bus spokesman Andy Kraus said the cuts "would severely impact the system and have an effect on the system's busiest routes." He declined to speculate the services that could be affected.

NICE has a $131 million operating budget for 2016 and about 100,000 daily riders.

Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said he plans to "vehemently" oppose the bus and Youth Board reductions, which he said target the "most vulnerable members of our county." Of the possible NICE cuts, he said, "People need to get to work, the supermarket and the doctor's office."

Anita Halasz, executive director of Long Island Jobs with Justice, a nonprofit in Hauppauge that advocates for working families, including public bus riders, said the cuts would "result in the destruction of Nassau County public transportation. . . . Many elected officials say they understand the importance of the bus system, but we need action." The bus operator already is facing a projected $7.5 million deficit in its 2016 operating budget.

To close the gap, NICE will raise the cost of rides for cash-paying customers and GoMobile app customers by 25 cents, to $2.75. NICE also is eliminating seven lines it says are underutilized.

Sales tax aid to villages

Nassau provides its 64 villages a total of $1.25 million from its nearly $1.1 billion in annual sales tax revenue.

While the state mandates that Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay towns, and the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove, each receive .25 percent of the county's sales tax dollars, the amount apportioned to local villages is discretionary. In Long Beach, for instance, that amounted to $1.59 million, city spokesman Gordon Tepper said.

The Village of Hempstead would lose $149,000 in annual funding that it uses for general operating expenses if the proposed cuts are enacted, said Mayor Wayne Hall.

"They are going to have a fight on their hands," said Hall, who had planned to lobby Mangano to increase the sales tax amount. "It's not fair they want to put the burden on villages."

Freeport, the state's second-largest village, would face similar problems replacing $90,000 in lost sales tax revenue, said Mayor Robert Kennedy.

"It will definitely affect our budget," Kennedy said. "We were counting on this money."

Nassau began distributing $250,000 in sales tax revenue to villages in 2002 after lobbying from local elected officials. The amount grew to $500,000 in 2004, $750,000 in 2005, $1 million in 2006 and $1.25 million in 2007, where it has remained.

In 2009, Nassau's legislature, then led by Democrats, proposed ending the aid to close a budget hole but backed down after objections from local leaders.

In 2011, Deputy Assembly Speaker Earlene Hooper (D-Hempstead) struck a deal with Mangano to allow state renewal of the county's sales tax in exchange for an additional $500,000 in sales tax funding for Freeport and Hempstead. Renewal of the county sales tax was approved, but the village funding deal fell apart when Nassau Comptroller George Maragos rejected the payments.

"We always knew this money could be cut," said Warren Tackenberg, executive director of the Nassau County Village Officials Association. "It's a negotiated item. If they don't have the money, there is not much we can do."