Dear Mr. John T.,

Thank you for your letter regarding special district consolidation. I always look forward to receiving correspondence from constituents.

I feel that my policy has been misunderstood and I would like to clarify. “Broad consolidation” involves consolidating all special districts into the County such as Sewage, Sanitation and Water. I am opposed to building such a new County bureaucracy. No one has demonstrated that the County can deliver these services more economically than it is done today by the individual districts or towns.

Exactly the opposite is true, the Nassau County government has demonstrated that it cannot manage within its budget, as it had a $250 million budget deficit in 2009 and accumulated deficits of over $650 million in the last 5 years.

I assure you that Nassau County will NOT provide these services better or cheaper than many districts do today. This is why I am against broad, county wide consolidation by Nassau County.

I agree that some districts and perhaps the ones you mentioned are run inefficiently and the residents would benefit from local consolidation with adjoining districts or the town. The New York State law that took effect on March 21, 2010 is meant to empower local residents or community groups to force an election by the local residents to consolidate or dissolve their special districts. I highlight this in my press release.

The Comptroller’s office will be supportive of these community led efforts where the local residents decide that it is in their best interest to consolidate. The Comptroller’s office will share information with local groups and will assist in whatever way appropriate to make the case. The Comptroller’s office does not have the authority or the resources to lead the effort. The Comptroller should not decide what is best for each local community.

I hope the above clarifies my position and demonstrates that I have not pandered to any special interest group. My only interest is to make government less costly for you and all taxpayers.

Once again thank you for writing to my office.

Best Regards,

George Maragos

Nassau County Comptroller