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This is the 6th occasion I have given the Republican response to County Executive Suozzi’s State of the County Address. Once again, I listened, as you have, to ambitious plans, visionary ideas, and bold new initiatives from Tom Suozzi. What I did not hear from our County Executive was that over the past four years, Nassau County has accumulated huge surpluses totaling over 300 Million Dollars. That’s over a quarter of a billion dollars in county surplus funds, gained largely through your property tax increases.

And yet as we speak, the County Executive is quietly proposing another tax increase to cover a $164 Million Dollar projected deficit in the near future.

I speak to you tonight from a small room off from where the County Executive gave his address. It’s not unlike your living rooms, simple and unpretentious because I have no teleprompter, high definition speaker system, flowers enough for a State funeral, or make-up people who all coordinate everything to put on a show rather than feel the pressure of everyday problems presented to all of us.

We believe, as Republicans, that spending has spiraled out of control in this County and like your household we cannot spend more than we take in and, yet, we find that the County Executive proposes to raise taxes approximately 3.9% to cover the deficit as projected by the County Comptroller. All this from a man who didn’t want to be County Executive last year. He wanted to be Governor.

You have never heard Mr. Suozzi speak of down sizing county government, consolidating county services or even tightening the belt on county spending. And you rarely hear the Democratic Majority put forth any new proposals which would reduce the property tax burden for our residents.

Since Mr. Suozzi has taken office county taxes have increased 20% and county spending has increased over $739 million dollars. We find this unacceptable as your Nassau County Legislators and even more problematic that our suggestions, proposals, and legislative measures to reduce taxes and control spending are just plain “deep sixed.”

As Republicans, we would prefer to focus on some of the problems that need to be addressed now, to prevent the suburbia we know today from being lost.

Just today Newsday exposed that 22 tenants where placed by the County in a single family home in Hempstead with your tax monies paying $425 dollars a month per person. Sadly one of these persons placed and paid for by the County is a convicted violent sex offender.

Mr. Suozzi, before you attempt to consolidate Fire Districts, Police Departments, Water Districts, Sanitation and Refuse Districts … clean up your own Department of Social Services which is responsible for this disaster. I say to the County Executive DO YOUR JOB.

Every day, like you, I frequent local merchants in Nassau County. I am constantly being stopped and asked as to what can be done about taxes and about the continuing reassessment of our residential properties. As Republican Legislators we have constantly called for the reassessment of Nassau County to be slowed. It is not necessary to reassess everyone’s property every year. The results are too onerous and the county is forcing the most vulnerable of our citizens; our senior citizens and young families out of their homes. Again I say, this problem has to be addressed now and from the County Executive we hear continued silence.

Tom, again I have three words for you, DO YOUR JOB. Leave Disney World to Disney and Master planning to Master planners. You started a Coliseum redevelopment plan which would have established a 60 story skyscraper in the middle of our suburban county. In the past you have spoken of consolidation of both county real estate and county services. To date, in over six years as County Executive, not one building has been sold and yet you are nearing the end of rebuilding the Old County Executive Building to the tune of over 60 million dollars. If you remember, the County Executive stated in other State of the County Addresses that the sale of excess county properties would have paid for this renovation. Unfortunately nothing has been sold and no funds have been raised to pay for this project, other than from our residents’ pockets.

Regarding the consolidation of services, before the County Executive starts attempting to consolidate special districts in other municipalities, why hasn’t he consolidated parks, roads, overlapping services, or intergovernmental services? Where are the highway consolidations with over lapping road maintenance and snow plowing by local municipalities he proposed? Where are the parks, beaches, and recreational program consolidations we eagerly awaited? The answer is NO WHERE. We heard the County Executive two years ago announce a plan to consolidate schools and school services. To date, NO ANSWERS, NO RESULTS from our County Executive.

Now we hear from our County Executive that he is personally investing himself and the County in the re-development of the Village of Hempstead. Once again I say to the County Executive, DO YOUR JOB. Not the job of the Mayor of Hempstead or the Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead. Stop dreaming of ambitious projects that go nowhere and let others promote improvement ideas for their own communities to bring to us for assistance in achieving their goals and objectives.

We need a full time County Executive with concrete proposals to answer the problems and concerns of our County residents, not to promote delusional concepts which will never be realized. I can only recall with a sense of comical relief that Mr. Suozzi’s recent proposal to sink Hempstead Turnpike below ground in East Meadow and install river passes with floating gondolas and sky high overpasses has finally been abandoned.

The County Executive needs to reset his priorities to resolving every day problems of you, our taxpayers. He needs to be creative and find ways to reduce spending, and reduce property taxes. He needs to talk with other levels of government, not undertake costly studies that go nowhere. He needs to transfer services which are overlapping. He needs to DO HIS JOB. He needs to find new and fresh ideas for reducing the level of crime and gang violence in our County, thereby insuring the safety of our citizens and children. He needs to stop declaring that all answers to our every day problems can only be solved by the active participation of the state and federal governments and pay more attention to the problems that you and I encounter each day. Traffic, roads that are in deteriorating conditions, our county infrastructure, and most of all, the level of health care this county offers its residents at the Nassau County University Medical Center.

If Mr. Suozzi can be inspired by these challenges and recommits himself to improving the quality of life for all our residents he will have our Republican support.

Republican Response to State of the County Given by Minority Leader Peter Schmitt