“Mangano’s Borrow & Spend Budget is Road Map to Bankruptcy”

At a press conference held on Oct. 4, 2010, Nassau County Legislature’s Minority Leader Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove) led the Democratic Caucus in rejecting County Executive Mangano’s proposed 2011 Budget calling it irresponsible, reckless and the roadmap to bankrupting Nassau County.
Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) said, “The County Executive has proposed eliminating the County Guarantee and will look to have Towns, Schools and other municipalities bear the cost of tax cert refunds. The bottom line is the taxpayers will still have to pay the same taxes but now it will just be associated with someone else’s budget. Shifting the burden of an assessment system that is still broken to another taxing entity is an abdication of responsibility.”

Minority Leader Yatauro opened the press conference by saying, “The Mangano budget is dangerously flawed. It is a Borrow and Spend budget, with an excessive reliance on speculative revenue and reckless borrowing. This budget mortgages our children’s future and will lead us on the road to bankruptcy. Since taking office in January, Mangano has proposed nearly $700 million in borrowing and his 2011 budget calls for even more! While Mangano touts his budget as a ‘no tax increase budget,’ his proposed fee increases and borrowing is a hidden tax increase. Mangano’s historic three-quarters of a billion dollars in borrowing will not only burden today’s taxpayers, it will be paid for by generations of taxpayers to come.”

The press conference was called after the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) issued a report sharply critical of Mangano’s proposed budget. In its report, NIFA asserts “extraordinary levels of unacceptable borrowing for operating expenses, ….and labor concessions that have not been secured must be viewed as having a high degree of risk.” In the opinion of many NIFA trustees and staff, the budget is not balanced.

Mangano's Borrow & Spend Budget is Road Map to Bankruptcy

Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) is pictured at the press conference with the Legislature’s

Minority Leader Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove) and Legislators Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn);

Joe Scannell (D-Baldwin); Robert Troiano (D-Westbury); and Dave Denenberg (D-Merrick)