The Nassau Interim Finance Authority approved wage increases and police recruits for the Nassau County, N.Y. government.
NIFA's May 3 actions approve the earlier actions of county executive Edward Mangano and the county legislature.
The county's workers have had their wages frozen for three years.
In late April Moody's Investors Service vice president Rob Weber raised concerns about the financial impact of the government's unfreezing its wages.
The vote will also allow the police department to bring in a new class of recruits.
NIFA's vote approves contracts with pay raises with four unions. The pay raises are retroactive to April 1.
In late April Weber noted that Nassau's sales tax collections were down 14.8% in the first three months of this year compared to the first three months of 2014. The county has budgeted a 2% increase in sales tax collections for all of 2014 compared to 2013.
The failure of sales taxes to grow may be a problem for the county's proposed wage increases, Weber said.
"The county has cited increased sales tax revenues as a source for paying for the increases, as well as additional sources including the installation of red light and speed cameras to increase fine revenue," he said. "However, some of these additional sources will require New York State approval, and it is not clear if this will ultimately be granted."
Nassau County is rated A2 by Moody's, A by Fitch and A-plus by Standard & Poor's.
With 1.385 million people in 2010, Nassau is New York's second most populous county outside of New York City.
