Curran's mailer at odds with county fiscal watchdogs

 
 

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran on Thursday accused Hempstead Town and Oyster Bay of putting out "misinformation" in mailers delivered to residents' doorsteps.

She did not provide copies of these mailers or specify the misinformation, but they apparently involved property taxes.

Today, a Curran mailer arrived on some county residents' doorsteps, which could also be termed "misinformation."

"Nassau County Did Not Raise Taxes," Curran's mailer says.

But county financial watchdogs have said otherwise.

According to Nassau's financial control board, the Curran administration proposed a "tax levy increase of $5.2 million" for the sewer fund in this year's budget.

See pages copied from the Nassau Interim Finance Authority's "Review of Nassau County's Proposed Multi-year Financial Plan Fiscal 2021-2024, dated Oct. 15, 2020.

From the Nassau Interim Finance Authority's report on the county's 2021 budget
 

The county's independent Office of Legislative Budget Review said the same thing ten days earlier in its review of Curran's 2021 budget. It said the administration's budget included a property tax increase in the sewer fund.

Here are pages copied from Budget Review's Oct. 5 report:

Pagesfrom the Office of Legislative Review's analysis of the 2021 budget

Republican county legislators voted to remove the sewer tax increase from this year's budget but Curran vetoed the amendment. Democratic lawmakers did not join Republicans in voting to override the veto. So what both fiscal watchdogs described as a property tax increase was adopted.

It should be noted that Curran, a Democrat, is running for re-election this year. All county legislative seats are also up for election. Don Clavin, Hempstead Town's Republican supervisor, is seeking re-election and it is expected that Joe Saladino, Oyster Bay Town's Republican supervisor, will also run for re-election this fall.

One other question: Why does the flyer figure school taxes from 2009 -- when Democrat Tom Suozzi, now a Congressman, was county executive?



 



 


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