Nassau lawmakers vote to restore fee increases

Nassau County legislators voted last night to approve a series of large fee increases -- totaling more than $46 million in anticipated new revenue for next year's budget -- including restoring $16 million they had removed.

By doing so, they said they'd avoided "draconian" cuts to youth programs and bus service that were on the table following last week's rejection of Nassau's $2.95 billion budget by the state monitoring board in control of county finances.

"With a great deal of effort expended, we can join together to avoid making the cuts that would've been imposed if we didn't come up with a plan of our own," Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) said before the vote.

Mortgage recording fees will rise from $150 to $300 and tax map verification fees will rise from $75 to $225, amounts County Executive Edward Mangano had initially proposed. The legislature originally limited those increases in amending Mangano's budget last month.

Traffic ticket administrative charges also will rise from $30 to $45, a total that is unchanged from Mangano's first budget.

"We do not take fee increases lightly," said Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport), noting that his caucus supported them, after previous opposition, when youth and bus funding were put in peril.

Mangano, a Republican, issued a letter last night to Gonsalves and Abrahams that pledged not to reduce 2016 funding for the youth programs and NICE Bus.

"I fully funded these important services in my proposed budget and I'm glad to see the legislature has come together in a bipartisan manner to ensure their continuation," Mangano said.

Despite last night's actions, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority may still force Mangano and lawmakers to make other deep spending cuts.

NIFA's board, in rejecting the county budget, cited $81 million in risky revenue. It ordered Mangano and legislative leaders to cut spending or increase revenue and resubmit the plan to them by next Monday.

NIFA chairman Jon Kaiman called the restored fee hikes a "positive sign," but he declined to say if they would generate enough revenue for the board to eventually pass the budget.

Lawmakers last night also approved $33 million in bonding for termination pay, which Gonsalves said would be used if other revenues didn't materialize. But NIFA won't approve bonding, Kaiman said, because Nassau should use operating revenues for termination pay.

The budget battle has been ongoing for weeks, after the legislature approved a budget reducing the real estate fee increases and stripping out a 1.2 percent property tax hike that would have raised $12 million.

Once NIFA demanded cuts, county officials compiled a list of $17.6 million in discretionary spending, including $6.4 million for the county youth board and a $4.4 million bus subsidy.

Several dozen youth program advocates had attended the meeting to plead for the cuts to be avoided. Some held signs that read "Our Kids' Lives Matter" and "Don't Punish Us."But the fee hikes had opponents. County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, a Republican, said the mortgage recording fee hike would hurt seniors, veterans and first-time home buyers.

"It's really just a revenue grab, in my view," she said.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com,robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert,

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.