North Hempstead may sue Nassau over tuition reimbursement fees

Town of North Hempstead officials last week authorized a third round of litigation to seek an injunction should Nassau County withhold the town’s sales tax revenue to offset Fashion Institute of Technology reimbursement costs of $1.3 million for the 2004-2005 school year.

“It really doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Town Attorney Elizabeth Botwin said. “They should go into court and say it rather than self-helping themselves to this money based on a claim that is 12 years old.”

She said the town had yet to receive its sales tax receipts for the fourth quarter of 2015 and is not disputing sales tax deductions to account for the 2015-2016 school year.

North Hempstead has paid $4.5 million of the estimated $5.8 million it has been billed dating to 2010 in the form of withheld sales tax, said Town spokeswoman Carole Trottere.

Counties are required by New York State law to pay a portion of tuition fees for residents attending community colleges in other counties. But in 2011, Nassau shifted the responsibility to the towns of North Hempstead and Hempstead and the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove.

Suffolk County has charged its towns for FIT chargebacks since 2012, said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, a spokeswoman for Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone.

FIT is a Manhattan-based SUNY community college that offers two-year associate, bachelor and graduate degree programs. Out-of-county fees amount to roughly $10,000 per student annually for Nassau and Suffolk counties, and officials have turned to municipalities to cover millions in costs. For the 2013-2014 school year, Suffolk was charged $7.8 million for 705 students attending FIT, according to a June 2015 county budget review.

According to a Nassau review of the 2016 fiscal year, the county seeks to collect $7.5 million in FIT reimbursement from its municipalities. As of the fall of 2015, there were 631 Nassau residents attending FIT, school spokeswoman Cheri Fein said.

Nassau County also intends to seek fees from North Hempstead for the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 school years, according to a Jan. 5 notice received by the town. A total of $5 million in fees from 2004 to 2009 has been requested, payable over three years. The Town of Oyster Bay has not received such a notice, a town spokeswoman said. The city of Long Beach has received a similar notice requesting chargebacks for the 2004-2009 period and has yet to take action, city officials said.

The Town of Hempstead and the City of Glen Cove did not respond to a Newsday inquiry.

North Hempstead filed lawsuits in 2011 and last year against Nassau County challenging the subsidy. In the second lawsuit, which is still active, the town asked for an accounting of claims for the amounts charged. Botwin said the town will soon file a motion in State Supreme Court for summary judgment after discovering charges for ineligible FIT students.

North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth called Nassau’s action “preposterous,” adding that an unexpected deduction from sales tax revenue would cause the town significant financial hardship.

“It’s clearly a move designed to make up for their budget gaps,” she said.