The Nassau County, N.Y. legislature approved a $2.9 billion budget Monday that leaves a $77 million revenue hole.
Legislators passed the spending plan in an 11-6 vote, but delayed approval of a controversial $105 surcharge on traffic and parking tickets that Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano proposed to fund new police hires. The fee increases were expected to generate $64 million in new revenue and lawmakers also tabled a decision on business licensing fees that would mean another $13 million for the Long Island county.
"The Legislative process will conclude in the coming weeks and we fully anticipate the budget will freeze property taxes for residents while delivering critical services and supporting important public safety initiatives," said Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin in a statement.
The budget must be approved by the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, which has controlled county finances since 2011. The fiscal control board initially rejected last year's $2.95 million budget proposal since it contained $81.3 million in uncertain budget assumptions.
Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos released a report Friday urging $82.6 million in cuts that would avoid the fee increases. Maragos said slashing the budget by 3.8% could be achieved by ordering all departments, agencies and elected offices to revert to their 2016 adopted spending plans and add 2.5% in further cuts.
"The proposed 2017 County budget needs to realign priorities and challenge every department to economize, rather than ask residents to pay more," said Maragos, who last month switched party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and announced plans to run for county executive next year. "All departments and elected offices should be tasked to reduce their budgets without reducing programs or services."
Nassau County is directly east of New York City with a population of about 1.3 million. The suburban county is rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service.
