Bruce Blakeman's salary rises to $227,959 for 2024, records show
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman at a press conference on Jan. 12, 2023 in Mineola. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman received a $16,000 raise this year as part of a cost of living adjustment for elected officials, bringing his total 2024 salary to $227,959, county records show.
Blakeman, a Republican in his third year in office, is making 7.6% more than he did in 2022 and 2023, when his salary was $211,821.
A 2007 county law governs the salaries of the county executive and other elected positions. They are entitled to cost of living adjustments of either 4% or an amount equal to the change in the area's consumer price index, whichever is smaller.
Blakeman, 68, of Atlantic Beach, did not receive a cost of living adjustment in 2023, which would have raised his salary to $220,294.
Chris Boyle, a county spokesman, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Ron Gurrieri, president of Nassau's Civil Service Employees Association, Local 830, the county's largest public employee union, said: "I think he’s well worth the money. The county executive's position has been underpaid for years. And if that’s what he makes now, I think he’s doing a job that’s commensurate with a salary like that."
Nassau Legis. Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview) said Blakeman should have followed the example of his predecessor, Democrat Laura Curran, whose pay stayed the same during her tenure from 2018 through 2021. Curran made $196,375 each year, payroll records show.
When Blakeman took office in 2022, he collected a salary of $211,821. Blakeman accepted cost-of-living increases that Curran had declined, which he was legally allowed to do, county officials had said.
"The problem isn't that the County Executive gets yearly raises, it's that he's profiting from the cash his predecessor, Laura Curran, justly declined," Drucker said in a statement. "If Nassau County is so flush that he can personally benefit from those backdated pay bumps, why aren't we seeing any cuts to taxes or fees?"
Blakeman's 2024 budget did not lower or increase the county's overall tax levy. In 2023, the county lowered its tax map verification fee — a charge on most real estate transactions — from $355 to $270 after courts deemed it an illegal tax.
Nassau legislators received pay raises totaling 3.5% over last year. The base salary for legislators, who serve part-time, 2-year terms, is $87,306 this year, up from $84,370 in 2023. Suffolk legislators received a 4% hike that raised their salaries from $107,051 to $111,333.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, a Republican who took office in January, has a $241,409 salary. His predecessor, Democrat Steve Bellone, made $222,124 in 2023.
Nassau and Suffolk County executives make almost as much as the governor of New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, makes $250,000 annually under a fixed salary, spokesman Gordon Tepper said.
County executives of both political parties have declined pay increases over the years only to accept them after they've been reelected.
In 2020, after reelection to a third and final term, Bellone accepted $35,000 in salary increases, boosting his pay from $187,000 to $222,124.
In July 2016, former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano accepted a pay raise of $17,007, bringing his salary to $191,621, county records show.
Mangano, who was under federal indictment, had declined pay increases for the prior six years, citing the county's perilous finances.
A jury convicted him of federal corruption charges in 2019, and he began serving a 12-year prison sentence in 2022. His attorneys are appealing in federal court.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman received a $16,000 raise this year as part of a cost of living adjustment for elected officials, bringing his total 2024 salary to $227,959, county records show.
Blakeman, a Republican in his third year in office, is making 7.6% more than he did in 2022 and 2023, when his salary was $211,821.
A 2007 county law governs the salaries of the county executive and other elected positions. They are entitled to cost of living adjustments of either 4% or an amount equal to the change in the area's consumer price index, whichever is smaller.
Blakeman, 68, of Atlantic Beach, did not receive a cost of living adjustment in 2023, which would have raised his salary to $220,294.
Chris Boyle, a county spokesman, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Ron Gurrieri, president of Nassau's Civil Service Employees Association, Local 830, the county's largest public employee union, said: "I think he’s well worth the money. The county executive's position has been underpaid for years. And if that’s what he makes now, I think he’s doing a job that’s commensurate with a salary like that."
Nassau Legis. Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview) said Blakeman should have followed the example of his predecessor, Democrat Laura Curran, whose pay stayed the same during her tenure from 2018 through 2021. Curran made $196,375 each year, payroll records show.
When Blakeman took office in 2022, he collected a salary of $211,821. Blakeman accepted cost-of-living increases that Curran had declined, which he was legally allowed to do, county officials had said.
"The problem isn't that the County Executive gets yearly raises, it's that he's profiting from the cash his predecessor, Laura Curran, justly declined," Drucker said in a statement. "If Nassau County is so flush that he can personally benefit from those backdated pay bumps, why aren't we seeing any cuts to taxes or fees?"
Blakeman's 2024 budget did not lower or increase the county's overall tax levy. In 2023, the county lowered its tax map verification fee — a charge on most real estate transactions — from $355 to $270 after courts deemed it an illegal tax.
Nassau legislators received pay raises totaling 3.5% over last year. The base salary for legislators, who serve part-time, 2-year terms, is $87,306 this year, up from $84,370 in 2023. Suffolk legislators received a 4% hike that raised their salaries from $107,051 to $111,333.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, a Republican who took office in January, has a $241,409 salary. His predecessor, Democrat Steve Bellone, made $222,124 in 2023.
Nassau and Suffolk County executives make almost as much as the governor of New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, makes $250,000 annually under a fixed salary, spokesman Gordon Tepper said.
County executives of both political parties have declined pay increases over the years only to accept them after they've been reelected.
In 2020, after reelection to a third and final term, Bellone accepted $35,000 in salary increases, boosting his pay from $187,000 to $222,124.
In July 2016, former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano accepted a pay raise of $17,007, bringing his salary to $191,621, county records show.
Mangano, who was under federal indictment, had declined pay increases for the prior six years, citing the county's perilous finances.
A jury convicted him of federal corruption charges in 2019, and he began serving a 12-year prison sentence in 2022. His attorneys are appealing in federal court.
Scott Eidler covers Nassau County government and politics for Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
