Nassau County Oversight Board Sees Cash Crunch Without Budget

Nassau County, N.Y., could have a serious cash problem by the end of October unless it finalizes a budget by then, the chairman of a state-appointed oversight panel said.

“The ability to sell tax-anticipation notes without a balanced budget will be extremely problematic,” Ronald Stack, chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, said before NIFA on Thursday rejected yet another proposed budget from the county.

County Executive Edward Mangano submitted a $2.6 billion spending plan for 2012 that he said eliminated a $310 million deficit. The legislature in Nassau County, which encompasses Long Island suburbs just east of New York City, must pass a budget for NIFA approval by Oct. 30. The board assumed fiscal control over the fiscally strapped county in January.

A report written by NIFA staff said Nassau’s operating deficit, which could reach $153 million by year’s end, could spiral to $283 million by the end of 2012.

“We’ve given them every reasonable plan we can think of,” Tim Sullivan, the county’s deputy finance director, said after NIFA had also rejected the county’s multi-year budget update late in the summer.

Stack and the other board members, though, considered the latest Nassau budget more of the same.

“I thought it was déjà vu again,” Stack said, voice rising and fist pounding at the meeting in Uniondale. “Didn’t I see this before? I’ve already been here. This budget is unbalanced.”

Stack said Mangano’s proposal to privatize the sewer system was unacceptable to NIFA, citing many uncertainties. The county had estimated it could raise $750 million on a public-private partnership.

NIFA director George Marlin added: “The public should be told how much more it will cost to flush their toilets if there is a sale. There will be a flush fee, known as a tax, because sewage costs will no longer be based on property tax assessments and because the buyers of the sewer system will require a profit on their investment.”

Nassau is rated A1 by Moody’s Investors Service, A-plus by Standard & Poor’s and AA-minus by Fitch ­Ratings.

Also on Thursday, NIFA rejected an $8.1 million contract with LandTek Group of Amityville that called for installing artificial turf at several county baseball and softball fields.

“The days of minor league baseball parks, barbecues and coliseums are over,” Marlin said.

Nassau voters on Aug. 1 rejected a proposed $400 million bond issue to reconstruct Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home to the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders, and build a minor-league ballpark on an adjacent site.

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