LIuncoverednews

Now that Nassau's financial control board has agreed to refinance $1.4 billion (BILLION!) in county debt to provide County Executive Laura Curran with $285 million in upfront "budget relief" this year, lets look at the accuracy of Curran's budget forecasts. In a report issued Dec. 21, her budget analysts  predicted the county would end 2020 with a $385 million budget deficit, including a $261.7 million drop in sales tax revenues. There's no doubt sales tax collections plummeted when Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down New York's economy last March in an attempt to slow spread the spread of the coronavirus. But then sales taxes collections began inching up again as the economy slowly reopened.That led Nassau legislative Republicans to predict the sales tax decline would not be as bad as the 20 percent drop forecast by Curran's budget seers. Curran, a Democrat,  and Nassau Democratic legislators, however, were not so optimistic and rejected spending changes for t...

                                                                                    Legis. John Ferretti The Nassau Legislature will hold a hearing about reassessment's impact on seniors and veterans at 9 a.m. Monday. Not sure what they plan to discuss, but the hearing can be watched -- and comment submitted -- electronically. The notice says: "While the hearing will be closed to the public due to COVID-19 concerns, it can be streamed at http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/ agencies/Legis/index.html and public comment can be submitted by emailing the Clerk of the Legislature at LegPublicComment@ nassaucountyny.gov . That public comment will be added into the record." Legis. John Ferretti (R-Levittown) who chairs the Veterans and Senior Affairs committee and an outspoken critic of Count...

                                                                                   While Nassau Republican legislators have held up certifying County Executive Laura Curran's appointment of Robin Laveman as county assessor,  Curran reportedly already has chosen Laveman's replacement as chair of the Assessment Review Commission. Curran's appintment of Joan M. Gibbons Quinn as the new ARC chair was submitted to the legislature late this afternoon, two county sources say.                                Joan M. Gibbons Quinn Quinn, of Garden City,  is a former partner in the tax appeal division of the Jaspan Schlesinger ...

NIFA meeting materials     The Nassau Interim Finance Authority definitely won big in its Game of Chicken with Nassau Republicans. Remember, Republicans who control the county legislature held up voting on a "declaration of need" that would allow the state-appointed financial control board to refinance county debt. In return, to pressure Republicans, NIFA held up approval of a new Superior Officers Association contract. Because Republicans support police, the GOP legislators gave in and approved a declaration of need last month. But the  declaration of need was a blank check. It didn't limit the amount of refinancing. When asked after the vote about the amount that was to be refinanced, legislators and staff waived off the question, suggesting maybe $250 million. Newsday reported maybe $500 million. Curran budgeted $473 million in refinancing. Instead, everyone focused on how much cash would be generated for Curran in this year, when she is running for re-election, and ne...

                                                                            Nassau residents who have been looking in their mail for their Jan. 2 notice of tentative assessment will be getting them after all -- just a bit late. County Executive Laura Curran, in a news release today, said , " Tentative assessed property values for the 2022-2023 assessment roll for every Nassau County property have been finalized and are being mailed out this month.  In addition to being mailed, notices of tentative assessment are also posted online."   By law, the county need only send notice if there has been a change in assessment, but the county traditionally has mailed the tentative assessment notices even during the eight-year freeze imposed by former Republican County Executive Edward Mangano....

   Laura Curran Looks like Nassau County Executive Laura Curran is going to be hard to beat this year. According to campaign disclosure reports filed Friday, the first-term Democrat from Baldwin has more than $2 million in her campaign coffers to fight against any Republican challenger this November. Curran raised $842,478.74 in the last six months, the report shows, while spending $265,619.63. That brought her total to  $2,066,586.96. Some of Curran's top donors were Elaine Langone who gave $10,000. Langone is the wife of Ken Langone, Home Depot founder and ex-director of the New York Stock Exchange, who was a large contributor to former Democratic County Executive Thomas Suozzi. Langone is known more for supporting Republicans but he backed Suozzi's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign against Elliott Spitzer more than a decade ago. Also contributing to Curran was the Simon Property Group, which owns Roosevelt Field and the Walt Whitman Shopping Center. Throug...

 Waiting for shots at Hicksville Center: from Bobby K.Kalotee Facebook page Message from Bobby Kalotee on his facebook page         Nassau University Medical Center Board member and former chairman Bobby Kalotee, known for many years a Bobby Kumar,  posted photos on his Facebook page yesterday of vaccines being administered at his Hicksville community center, which had served years ago as party headquarters when he was chairman of the Nassau Independence party.  The photos immediately raised questions by many seeking -- but so far unable -- to get vaccinations against the Covid 19 virus. How did Kalotee arrange this? Where did the vaccine come from? How did people get selected for the elusive shots? Because Kalotee is also chairman of the Nassau Human Rights Commission and has been active in local, state and national politics for years, one of the main questions was: Did he have some special "in" with the medical center or the county? Kalotee denies an...