Find a better way to dole out community grants in Nassau
A tractor to maintain museum grounds, statues, roller rink and weight room renovations and a comfort station were among the projects that legislators earmarked funds for through Nassau's Community Revitalization Program. Credit: Howard Schnapp; Danielle Finkelstein; Shelby Knowles; Danielle Silverman; Barry Sloan; Johnny Milano
The Jericho school district has cash reserves of $57 million, which is almost half the district’s annual budget. Nassau County has at least $3.5 billion in debt, and runs huge deficits each year. And the law that has plunged Nassau so far into the red, the “county guarantee,” forces the county to pay refunds for tax overpayments while districts like Jericho pocket the extra cash.
It’s a windfall for districts and municipalities at county expense.
So why did broke Nassau County provide a $75,000 Community Revitalization Program grant to the Jericho school district in 2014 to install Wi-Fi in all district buildings? Why did it ante up $500,000 to the Massapequa school district for lights at Berner Field, or $100,000 to the financially stable Town of North Hempstead for a “comfort station” at Manhasset Valley Park? Why has it, since 2013, paid out $15 million for 200 local projects that legislators wanted for their districts?
It’s because this is the politics of pork, sometimes known as “earmarks,” in which elected officials draw money from a pool provided by all county taxpayers to benefit the ones just in their legislative districts.
County, state and federal earmarks have been debated for decades, if not centuries. Limited in dollars and administered with guidelines, they can be a smart and effective way to improve life in a community. Local officials do know of specific needs that are missed in the broad budgeting process.
But earmarks usually aren’t administered properly. Money too often goes to projects favored by the most influential supporters of the most powerful lawmakers, rather than the best proposals. Transparency and fairness are frequently lacking, and money often is not put to its best use.
In Nassau from 2013 to 2018, the 19th Legislative District, which includes Seaford, Bellmore and Wantagh, got the biggest share of the county’s Community Revitalization Program money, just over $2 million. The 8th District, which stretches from Bellerose Terrace east to West Hempstead, got the least, with just over $200,000. With no open and competitive system for rating the benefits for awarding money, it’s impossible to say whether funds are well spent and go where they are most needed. In Suffolk County, a program to distribute $35,000 to each legislative district for such projects was ended in 2012 due to budget concerns. Downtown revitalization funding of $500,000 a year is still distributed, but via a committee that scores and ranks all proposals based on merit.
With Nassau so broke, it’s tempting to say the Community Revitalization Program and its grants should disappear, but that’s not true. With a Nassau budget of $3 billion a year, spending of about $3 million a year on these projects has little effect on the county’s broader fiscal stability.
What’s needed is a much better process for giving out these grants. That process should measure the relative good and the number of residents each proposal can serve in relation to cost. It also should consider whether there is another entity, governmental or not, that might reasonably be asked to foot the bill.
That’s how you make pork nutritious. — The editorial board
