Letter: Nassau debt and speedy tax refunds
NIFA Chairman Jon Kaiman looks on during the Nassau Interim Finance Authority meeting at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale on Friday, May 2, 2014. Credit: Barry Sloan
The Nassau Interim Finance Authority's concerns about Nassau County's borrowing ["NIFA: Nassau borrowing a concern," News, Oct. 17] refers to the $150 million required to pay down property tax refunds due county residents. But that number reflects just half of what the real liability is projected to be when all the settlements are paid.
The larger issue is the speed by which the payments to commercial and residential properties are made; the sooner the arrears are resolved, the faster the debt service disappears from the county books and slows the growth of interest due.
Expediting the payment of court-ordered refunds is in everyone's financial interest and also places in the wallets of taxpayers tens of millions of dollars that could be spent locally. In turn, this would generate the sales tax revenue desperately needed by a county concerned with a growing deficit.
We are well past the point of whether the refunds should be paid. It's now a matter of when, and speed should be of the essence.
Richard G. Fromewick, Garden City
Editor's note: The writer is chairman of the real estate tax reduction practice at the law firm Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein.
