3-11-2008

Madame Presiding Officer, ladies and gentlemen of the Legislature, my friends and fellow residents of the great County of Nassau.

I love this job. I am honored to serve as your County Executive and I am prepared, confident and excited about leading our County to continued growth and improvement.

The current state of Nassau County is strong! And our future is bright.

Our strength results from the hard work of a multitude of people, many of them here tonight, supported and guided by the citizens of our County. But in America, our institutions are stronger than the people who preside over them.

Yesterday we learned that lesson once again. We are all shocked and saddened by the revelations regarding Governor Spitzer. Yet we as Americans have a system of government premised on the fact that the individuals that serve us are subject to failure. But that same system is designed to ensure that no matter the setback, we as a people will be able to change course and continue to move forward. And we shall move forward.

Guaranteed, there will be challenges. But we will overcome our challenges just as we have in the past. Together, we will confront our crushing property tax burden and improve our quality of life. Together, we will continue on the road to making Nassau the best county in the country.

Let me officially welcome you to our new government home – the "Theodore Roosevelt Executive & Legislative Building." This building symbolizes all we want to be: Strong and modern, with a vision of the future, and a respect for the past.

Everyone – legislators and executive, Democrats and Republicans, even members of the private sector – share in the success of this project. It shows how, when we work together, when we put politics aside, and focus on the good of the people – we do our best work.

And this isn’t the only example.

Together, we saved the Nassau University Medical Center. It is now on its way to becoming a model for community health and for addressing healthcare disparities for those who have and those who don’t.

Together, we have preserved hundreds of acres of open space and made significant improvements to our environment. Together, we executed large capital projects to improve our parks and our physical plant and our information systems. And, together, we voted to move forward on the planning and redevelopment of the Coliseum property.

My request of you – all of you – let’s keep moving forward together.

Theodore Roosevelt was one of our greatest presidents. A great Long Islander, he represents everything good about leadership and government (even if he was a Republican). Theodore Roosevelt was known as the American Lion. And it is a lion on our county seal that graces the front of this historic building. It reminds us that providing good government sometimes takes the strength and courage of a lion – the kind Theodore Roosevelt embodied.

Roosevelt’s life is a great metaphor for the life of Nassau County during the past six years. Roosevelt was a small, sickly child, and he certainly wasn’t expected to accomplish very much. But by sheer force of will and through incredible hard work, Roosevelt transformed himself physically and matched his newfound strength with an unquenchable appetite for knowledge. He learned to handle himself with bullies. He had no patience for laziness, indecision or dishonesty. And he used the powers he acquired to fight powerful interests in an effort to try and help ordinary people.

Six years ago when I took office, Nassau County wasn’t just sickly; it was facing a grim demise. The smart money was betting that we wouldn’t survive as an independent entity, much less thrive. We had a crushing $428 million deficit. We were selling off precious land to pay the bills. Hardworking county employees were dispirited because politics made them less valuable than party hacks. Many were ashamed to even say that they worked for Nassau County.

Our infrastructure was in decay. Our parks were in disrepair. And we encountered all of this when we assumed office in the dark shadow of September 11th. No wonder so many thought we would fail.

So we led our own charge. Not up San Juan Hill, but on Northern Boulevard and Hempstead Turnpike and Merrick Road and Sunrise Highway. We told friends and foes alike "Either get on board or get out of the way."

Along the way, we encountered powerful opponents, fought long, protracted battles, and endured conflict and contention. But we changed the pattern of union bargaining. We reduced the workforce to its smallest in 30 years. We saved county residents hundreds of millions of dollars through our FixAlbany.com campaign and our cap on Medicaid.

During every one of the past six years we kept our rate of spending lower than the rate of inflation, and lower than the rate of any other municipality in the region. We have balanced every single County budget. We have created surpluses every year! And as of this year we have delivered five consecutive No-County-Tax-Increase budgets. No other county in the country can match our record with Wall Street’s rating agencies.

In the last six years, we have received 12 bond-rating upgrades. Nassau County now sits on a perch, in the "A" ranks at Standard & Poors, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investor Services. In fact, Nassau County has become The Comeback County of local American governments. Yet for all we’ve accomplished, there is an elephant in the room. I’m talking about property taxes. Property taxes: The issue that drives all of the other issues, and the issue that, ultimately, will determine the future of Long Island.

New York State and Nassau County have the highest local taxes in America.

As your County Executive, I have done everything in my power to keep down the property taxes you are charged by the County. For five years running we haven’t increased your taxes. But if we’ve been doing such a terrific job – and I think we have – why are your property tax bills going up and up?

The increases have come from the school districts, and to a lesser extent, the special districts, the Towns, the Villages and the two cities. And, the increases have been coming faster and faster because they are compounded – they are increases on increases – year after year – the same way interest from a bank is compounded.

Let’s look at it another way… When I took over as County Executive on January 1, 2002 the County portion of an average property tax bill was 22.7%. Almost 23% of the total property tax bill you paid went to pay the cost of County Government.

Today, after six years of hard work and six years of fiscal restraint – as we have held the line and the other entities have raised taxes, the County portion of an average property tax bill is now down to only 17.5% of your total bill. 5% less than the day it was I took office. So while we are proud of our accomplishments, I understand that your checking account isn’t looking any better. Figuring out a way to get control of property taxes was the number one reason I ran for Governor. I don’t know if you remember, but I lost that battle.

Now I am the Chairman of the newly created NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief. So while I may have lost that battle, I believe, together, we can win the war. I will need your help. In May, my Commission will propose important legislation to, among other things, cap school property taxes and address unfunded state mandates. I will be asking you to help get the legislation passed by the New York State Assembly and State Senate. Can I count on your help?

This is just part of my all-out effort to address our property tax burden.

Last year at my State of the County, I stated that consolidation of local government would be my main priority for the remainder of my second term in office. There are literally hundreds of governments that if consolidated could save taxpayers money.

Just one year later, many elected officials and newspapers have made government consolidation their priority as well. The New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness has put forward some aggressive recommendations to fix special districts and more are on the way. The County Comptroller, Howard Weitzman, who serves on the Commission, has taken a leadership role in uncovering waste and abuse. It seems like a week doesn’t go by when Newsday doesn’t have another front page story demanding reform to fix a broken system.

So what have we done so far?

We have consolidated some of our sewer districts and now 92% of all sewage in Nassau is handled by one government agency – the County. We need to make it 100%. It’s better for the environment, it will result in better service and it is cheaper.

We have transferred 9 parks and 27 miles of roads to the Town of North Hempstead. We should enter in to similar arrangements with the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay. County residents can still use all of these facilities, the Towns will have more access to recreational facilities, but more important, the parks and roads are getting better and it saves money.

This year’s State budget proposes that commissioners of special districts no longer receive pay and benefits. Why are taxpayers paying for orthodonture for the wife of a part time water commissioner? The budget also recommends that garbage districts be put under town control.

I have worked with State Comptroller DiNapoli on legislation he will introduce in Albany later this month that requires all special districts and governments provide their budgets on the internet to provide greater transparency and accountability.

I will also present legislation by May 1st to dramatically reduce the number of election days here in our county. Can you guess how many election days we have now? Twenty four! That’s right there are currently 24 different days in 11 of 12 months of the year that elections are held in the hundreds of special districts, including libraries, fire, sanitation, sewer and others that we have here in Nassau. Dozens of locations, disparate hours, little knowledge of who is running and what the key issues are, it certainly is not ideal for our democracy.

Included in the legislation would be disclosure and public notice requirements, making our voters and taxpayers better informed and educated. The legislation I will be proposing to Albany will consolidate all elections in Nassau County to two dates – Election Day in November and the third Tuesday in May when school budget votes are held. Please support this effort.

With all of our County efforts, with the continued efforts to consolidate special districts and root out waste and fraud, no matter how we look at this: we keep coming back to the school district portion of Nassau’s property tax bill. More than 62% of your property tax bill comes from your school taxes. And, on average, school taxes have gone up 7% every year for the last 5 years.

Historically, here on Long Island, it has been "politically incorrect" for "politicians" to interject themselves in any way in school business. Even my own staff has warned me against treading in these waters. They say, "The School Boards run the schools…and anyway, people can vote on school budgets if they don’t like the increases…."

In reality, while most people do not like the increases, most budgets don’t get voted down. Few people show up for school budget votes and even when taxpayers vote against their local school budgets, their taxes don’t go down. The only things that go down are student activities like athletic teams, band practices and after-school meetings.

In fact, the system is so broken…that in many cases, if taxpayers vote down the school budget, school taxes actually go UP!

We recognize the need to maintain the educational quality that helps make Nassau a great place to live, but we must also help our schools to contain costs. So for the sake of our taxpayers, and ultimately, for the sake of our children, we are throwing political correctness to the wind.

Tonight I am kicking off an effort to create a county-wide office of shared school services that will centralize back office operations for the county’s 56 school districts. I am not proposing any county involvement in the educational product, but rather a focus on back office functions. This marks the first time a county or county executive is involved in an effort of this magnitude to reduce school expenses.

After several months of in depth analysis I have spoken with school superintendents and they have committed to work with me. Tonight I would like to welcome Superintendent James Parla, President of the Nassau Council of School Superintendents, representing the school superintendents of all Nassau County. I have also spoken with the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards association and they have also committed to join the team.

Together we will recommend to the State that Nassau County Schools serve as a statewide model of a countywide shared school services operation.

Instead of 56 school districts hiring different law firms, why not create a countywide school attorney’s office? It will be cheaper and develop greater expertise. Why not a countywide accounting and audit department to set up best practices to prevent waste and abuse? Why not create a county-wide health insurance pool and a shared security operation? Or county-wide energy, purchasing and construction operations? Let’s create countywide leverage with the bus companies, and the companies that sell our schools food, copiers and computers. There are many applications of countywide school collaborations that would be cheaper and more effective while leaving instruction and the classrooms alone.

We will not delay. My team, the superintendents and the school boards will meet together and make a recommendation to the state within 60 days to give us the statutory authority to create these functions so that it will be in place for the beginning of the 2009 school budgets.

To succeed we will need a concerted effort and as I said in 2002 when addressing the county’s fiscal mess, we need everyone to "either get on board" with this effort, "or get out of the way." We must keep the county taxes under control. We must consolidate government functions and hold special districts accountable, we must craft a statewide approach to cap school taxes and relieve state mandates and we must create a central county-wide school business function.

After all these years of speeches and handwringing I believe that with a recognition that we face a statewide property tax problem, with the focus of local school officials on the need to work together, and with a culmination of growing voter interest, we are on the verge of actually giving our taxpayers some relief. It’s one thing – a very important thing – to focus on financial issues. It’s another to use your resources in useful and creative ways. Because, when you come right down to it, my job is about helping make the quality of your lives as high as possible.

One area that addresses both our need to lift some of the tax burden from our residents by expanding our tax base and our need to improve our quality of life is economic development. Nassau must do a better job attracting new business and promoting tourism and we are going to do just that.

There are three areas of our focus: 1) is creating "cool" happening downtowns to attract young people and empty nesters, 2) mega projects to jumpstart our economy, breathe life into "New Suburbia" and generate new high skill, high tech jobs and 3) improve and market the great attractions that exist here in our county already, and in doing so improve our quality of life, uplift our self- image and the image Nassau County projects to the region.

I met recently with president of New York University and he noted that the great cities of the world were founded on industry. In New York City it was FIRE – Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. But because of advances in technology, and transportation and communications, Wall Street no longer needs to be on Wall Street and the great cities of the world will not be based only on industries. The great cities of the world, he said, will not be founded on FIRE, rather they will center on ICE – Ideas, Culture and Education.

People are now moving to those places that offer a quality of life that foster creativity both in their personal and business lives. For Nassau County to be sustainable for the next generation we must attract young college graduates who are deciding to postpone marriage until their early 30s and are not relocating to Long Island. Manhattan and Brooklyn are unaffordable – they are downright expensive, but young people are moving there and other urban areas in droves.

A diverse choice of housing options and exciting downtown environments are attracting them. We do not aim to be New York City, but even our suburban competitors have a competitive advantage that we must recognize. In Nassau only 15% of our housing stock is rental, while Westchester has 40% of its housing stock as rental. On Long Island, with 2.7 million people, we have the same commercial square footage as Westchester with only 850,000 people.

We need to expand our tax base, and create "cool downtowns" that foster ideas, culture and education to attract young people and empty nesters. If we build it, they will come.

Great Neck, Rockville Centre, Garden City and Long Beach are examples of these types of downtowns. We need to create more like these, with people living near the train station, and residents living and working in multi-story buildings within walking distance to fantastic restaurants and small shops owned by their neighbors. We see progress in Westbury, Mineola and Glen Cove. Let’s keep them moving.

I addition, I see more happening downtowns emerging in Nassau County in the near future. Freeport wants to see more revitalization now that its Nautical Mile is thriving. We need similar visions for Elmont and Inwood. Hicksville has some of the best potential if we could simply challenge ourselves to create a downtown around the busiest train station on the entire LIRR.

And of course, I continue to believe that Hempstead, with the best multi-modal transportation system on the island, has the best existing potential. The County will continue to foster visions and provide support for each of these efforts. But our greatest success will come if we get a Nassau Coliseum HUB plan approved by the Town of Hempstead and off the ground before the Islanders lose another season and the people begin to lose heart. This mega project will redefine our "New Suburbia," attract new high skill, high tech office space and bring young people to the center of our county. We stand ready to help the Town of Hempstead to get this project moving.

Within 45 days Nassau will finally, after over a decade, acquire 105 acres from the Navy in Bethpage. We will follow a vision established by the surrounding residents and market the property as a high tech campus.

I am meeting with the leaders of North Shore LIJ, Cold Spring Harbor, Brookhaven National Labs and Stony Brook University and other partners that will market the property as a center for biotechnology, alternative fuels and homeland security. This is another mega project, like the HUB, that will foster creativity and be a key to our long term economic stability. I know we will succeed.

One of the most exciting opportunities we have, however, is to grow our sales tax base and improve our quality of life by encouraging tourism. We have unparallel South Shore Ocean Beaches and marinas, a Gold Coast North Shore Waterfront, well established sporting venues, a growing Museum Row, beautiful preserves and open spaces, incredible equestrian activities and great shopping and dining. We will improve and promote them all.

Over the next few months you will be hearing more about our aggressive new marketing campaign. But, before you dismiss the idea of Nassau as a tourism destination let me just read you a list: Jones Beach, Nickerson Beach, Long Beach, Sagamore Hill, Sands Point Preserve, Old Bethpage Restoration Village, Historic Sea Cliff, Oyster Bay and Roslyn, Westbury Gardens, Planting Fields, Bailey’s Arboretum and Clark Gardens, Belmont Racetrack, Bethpage Black, Eisenhower Red, The Islanders, and the Aquatic Center - Museum Row, the Tilles Center and the Fine Arts Museum - Massapequa, Welwyn, Garvies Point, Tackapausha and Muttontown Preserves, The Americana Shopping Center, Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall, Downtowns and some of the best restaurants in the country.

As they say – if you’ve got it – flaunt it – and we’ve got it right here in Nassau County.

Last year, I created Healthy Nassau, a comprehensive program to sustain a healthy environment, while at the same time, encouraging healthy living. Our goal is to make Nassau not only the best-run County in America, but to make it America’s Healthiest County. As an Island especially vulnerable to climate change, the fight to reduce the "carbon footprint" of Nassau County has to be more than just slogan.

We now boast of having the largest fleet of "alternative fuel-vehicles" in the State Of New York, outside of New York City, 20% of the County government’s electrical needs come from environmentally-friendly "renewable energy" and we established the first "ethanol" fueling station on Long Island. By purchasing 10% of our electricity from wind power, using new "bio-diesel" fuels, and investing in energy-efficiency, Nassau County has actually reduced our government’s "carbon footprint" by more than 5% since 2005.

As a result, the United States Environmental Protection Agency just awarded Nassau County special recognition for our use of renewable energy to improve air quality - one of the best in the nation.

Time Magazine just wrote a feature story about our efforts to make "Green Levittown" a national model for suburban efforts to combat global warming.

"Green Levittown" is a first-of-its-kind initiative, a partnership between Nassau County government, a team of national and local corporations, the Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the people of Levittown.

Since the first of this year, we have been knocking on doors, talking to thousands of school children and holding community events to educate, and inform Levittown families on how to make their homes "green," to increase the energy efficiencies of their appliances and save money at the same time. By Earth Day our environmental partners will have knocked on every door in Levittown and by next year our goal is to reduce the carbon footprint in Levittown by 10%.

Let’s make America’s first suburb, America’s first green suburb and then let’s green all of Long Island.

We are preserving hundreds of acres of open space and improving existing open space and park land. We’ve planted an organic farm at Old Bethpage Restoration Village, opened a fresh farmer’s market in Mineola and sponsored new programs to encourage better nutrition for children and teenagers. Preserving open space helps protect our drinking water, but we are also improving our costal waterways by reseeding them with shellfish and naturally filtering storm water by restoring stream beds and ponds.

As a result of all of these efforts and more I just learned we are being recognized as the "environmentalist of the year" by the New York State League of Conservation Voters.

Nassau County already outperforms the nation by smoking less and we are offering free nicotine patches to those who wish to quit. We do a better job getting mammograms, prostate and other preventative screenings than the national average. We are, however, still too overweight and need to exercise more. By eating right and exercising more there is no reason we shouldn’t be viewed as the healthiest county in the country to live. We need only focus on the goal of improving our health.

Presidential polls show it. Political pundits say it. There’s a feeling out there, that perhaps, America’s best days are behind her. People are worried about the thousands of our brave, young American soldiers, fighting for our Country more than 7,000 miles from home. They are worried about the economy… worried about the sinking stock market, the credit crunch and the increasingly high home mortgage foreclosure rate.

Closer to home, people are worried about Nassau County’s future, too. Worried about those property taxes, worried about our high LIPA and KeySpan bills, about young families finding affordable housing in Nassau County and about seniors finding the money to stay in their homes.

America, as much as any other country in the history of the world, has an iron creed, a God-given inner strength, a common will that has helped us to overcome any adversity, any enemy, any crisis. And while politics and politicians sometimes disappoint us, America’s Democracy remains unrivaled as the ideal for a government that steadfastly protects the rights of its citizens, encourages the free exchange of ideas and gives its people an unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

So I am Optimistic about our Country’s future. I am Optimistic about our County’s future. In spite of the challenges…I’m an Optimist. Nassau County has enormous advantages. We are a great place to live, work and play. We are a stone’s throw from the center of the world… New York City. Surrounded by water, Nassau County has miles of pristine beaches on the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean and thousands of acres of parks, preserves, horse farms and golf courses. Some of the best schools in the nation and home to eight four-year colleges and universities and the largest two-year college in New York State. Nassau County means education. We offer businesses one of the highest skilled workforces in the nation.

Nassau has already been rated "one of the healthiest places to live in America," one of the "best places for women to live" and Nassau County has the lowest crime rate of any municipality of our size, in the entire nation. The lowest crime rate in the Country.

Our County will remain strong in the face of any challenge.

I am thankful for the support and friendship of many of our legislators. We make a good team together. And, I am thankful that I enjoy the support and friendship of the people of Nassau County. We also make a good team together. Together, we will tame our runaway property taxes. Together, we will build up our economy and increase our revenues. Together, we will insure that every one of our citizens has the same opportunities, to grow and prosper and live as healthy, and as successful a life as can be had.

I am optimistic about our future. I still believe in the American Dream. And I still believe in Nassau County.

Robert Kennedy often spoke of America’s vision of the future. And, he warned us that "such a vision is never self-fulfilling. We cannot stand idly by and expect our dreams to come true under their own power. The future is not a gift; it is an achievement. Every generation helps make its own future."

We’re very proud of our accomplishments. But we’re not resting on them. We’re not satisfied. We’re not finished. And we never will be finished until we make our own future what we want it to be. As Theodore Roosevelt said, "big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones." Not that I’m minimizing what we’ve done, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

I ask for your help, for your hand and for your faith that together, we will write the next, great chapter of Nassau County.

2008 STATE OF THE COUNTY ADDRESS

COUNTY EXECUTIVE THOMAS R. SUOZZI