Nassau County, N.Y., received 13 responses to its request for information regarding a public-private partnership for its troubled sewer system.
Brian Nevin, communications director for the Long Island county, said the RFI was issued so that additional information could be provided to Nassau’s financial oversight board on the achievability of a P3.
County Executive Edward Mangano has said the P3 would help eliminate 25% of the county’s debt and improve its sewer treatment plants, which are in a state of disrepair and face fiscal crisis.
The Nassau County Interim Finance Authority, which has the power to approve or disapprove any of the county’s contracts, called a part of the plan “antithetical to NIFA’s mission and against sound fiscal practice.”
NIFA was created in 2000 to oversee the county’s finances, and announced a control period in 2011 when the county faced an operating deficit of more than 7%.
In May this year, the NIFA board rejected the county’s proposed contract with Morgan Stanley to serve as an advisor on the P3 deal.
Nassau had received approval from its Legislature for the Morgan Stanley contract in April and selected an operator, United Water, for the sewer system in early May.
Without NIFA’s approval, however, the plan cannot go forward.
“While NIFA questioned on the viability of the plan, the market clearly responded with confidence to County Executive Mangano’s public-private partnership for Nassau’s sewer system,” Nevin said.
Mangano has said he plans to revisit the sewer plan with NIFA.
