NIFA refuses to release lawyer bills or financial control

With new Nassau budget forecasts expected to be released next week, let's take a look back at NIFA.

You know, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the financial control board composed of unelected Democrats and Democratic donors who ostensibly have the power to tell Nassau's Republican elected officials how to spend taxpayer money.

Notice "interim" in its title: The term means provisional or temporary.

But NIFA was created by the state 22 years ago. The unpaid board apparently has redefined "interim" to mean "permanent."

And it certainly has taken to heart the term "authority" which means "right to control" or "command."

NIFA has decided it can withhold billing records of its controversial labor lawyer, even though he is paid with Nassau sales tax money.

And the NIFA chairman, appointed by disgraced former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said NIFA will decide whether it will give up financial control of the county even though the statutory authority no longer exists that allowed the oversight board to take financial control 11 years ago: a one percent budget deficit.

Adam Barsky

"Ultimately, it's a decision for the board to make based on many, many factors," Chairman Adam Barsky told Newsday...after acknowledging, ""The county is in very good shape, financially, at this moment." 

In April, Rich Nicolello, Presiding Officer of the Republican-controlled county legislature, expressed outrage in learning that NIFA had paid lawyer Gary Dellaverson nearly $1 million to handle county labor contracts since 2018 -- after the legislature refused to hired Dellaverson for contract negotiations because he was too expensive. 

"I believe NIFA needs an oversight board," Nicollello said at a public meeting, prompting applause from the audience.

"This is a no-bid contract," continued Nicolello, a New Hyde Park Republican. "They appointed him. There is little oversight. We are going to be seeking copies of the hours and time sheets he's put in for almost $1 million."

Nicolello in fact did seek copies of the Dellaverson's hours and time sheets.

Only to be refused by NIFA.

Republican legislative spokesperson Mary Studdert said in an email two weeks ago, "We did FOIL the billing records for Gary Dellaverson on April 27^th, 2022. NIFA indicated that he had received $950,000 to date ($25k/month on retainer, not hourly billing), but did not provide detailed billing sheets outlining specific tasks performed claiming the records were privileged."

She said NIFA provided a Committee on Open Government Opinion to support their position.

"Accordingly, we requested redacted copies, but were refused. Unredacted billing records were previously provided to us pursuant to a similar FOIL request in 2019."

But that 20-year-old opinion from the Open Government committee doesn't say NIFA has the right to withhold billing records; only that it doesn't have to disclose litigation strategy.  "'Dates, times and duration' of services rendered by the attorney, I believe that those portions of the records must be disclosed," wrote then-director Robert Freeman.

So if Dellaverson was paid $950,000 by the end of April, he must have earned more than $1 million by now if he gets a minimum of $25,000 a month.

The results?

Two minor union contract for the police Superior Officers Association and Detectives Association have been settled. But three major union contracts have been unresolved since the end of 2017: The Nassau Police Benevolent Association, the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association and the Civil Service Employee Association.

Since the country is now experiencing 9.1 percent inflation, its unlikely the three large unions will accept the same 2 to 3 percent wage increases as the first two unions did.

Look for those first two unions to invoke me-too clauses to re-open their deals if the other three get bigger increases stoked by inflation.

Great work for the $1 million labor attorney.

Now lets look at the budget.

Even NIFA concedes that the county has had three straight years of budget surpluses, mostly because sales tax revenue has far exceeded the predictions of former Democratic County Executive Laura Curran's budget office as well as the forecasts of NIFA's own budget staff. 

Sales taxes came in last year $426.4 million over the budget adopted by the NIFA board in 2020. A $426.4 million oops. Great forecasting, NIFA.

Republican Bruce Blakeman kept Curran's budget team after he took office in January after defeating Curran.

Her team, now his team, is predicting another surplus this year.

According to Budget and Management's June financial report to NIFA, the office projects the county will end this year with a $19.9 million surplus in its major funds. But that's after it transfers $50 million in surplus to reserves. So that's a $69.9 million projected surplus.

Meanwhile, the budget office projects a $79.8 million surplus in sales taxes, even though the legislature cut the gasoline tax on anything over $3 per gallon. 

So even though inflation dampens overall spending, higher prices on all goods mean higher sales taxes collected.

Elaine Phillips

County Comptroller Elaine Phillips, a Republican elected last November, is expected to give a mid-year budget outlook to the Nassau legislature this week -- a report required by county charter.

The charter says the comptroller "On or before the thirty-first day of July of each year...prepare a report on the status of the budget for the first six months of the current fiscal year, which shall include an opinion, for such period, as to whether a surplus or deficit shall exist;"

There's nothing on the comptroller website yet. Let's see what she predicts at the budget hearing.

Or what NIFA and the legislature's own budget review office forecasts.