(MINEOLA, N.Y.) - Ahead of a scheduled Friday, Oct. 28 vote to enact Nassau County’s fiscal year 2023 budget, Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Kevan M. Abrahams (D - Freeport) and his colleagues are urging the Blakeman administration and the Republican Legislative Majority to deliver additional crime-fighting resources and enhance public safety by supporting the Democratic Minority’s common-sense, fiscally sound budget amendments.
Since being filed on Oct. 14, the administration and the Republican Legislative Majority have been silent on the Democratic Minority’s plan to add 110 new police officers; establish a Nassau P.D. Hate Crimes division; and dedicate $700,000 toward restoring a recidivism prevention resource program that was canceled over the summer by the District Attorney’s office.
This fiscally responsible $6,282,350 enhancement of the County’s investment in public safety would equate to just a fraction of Nassau’s forecasted fiscal year 2023 surplus, which ranges from $52.9 million to $60.4 million based on the County Comptroller’s projections.
“Our budget amendments strengthen Nassau’s commitment to public safety by dedicating nearly $6.3 million toward enhancing community policing, combating hate crimes, and helping people get their lives back on track,” Minority Leader Abrahams said. “While County Executive Blakeman has paid lip service to crucial issues of public safety, taxes, and assessment during the last 10 months, his administration has consistently fallen short on solutions – like how he has proposed adding just 36 officers for the entirety of our County. We strongly encourage our Republican colleagues to support our fiscally sound plan that makes Nassau County safer and more secure.”
Failing to adopt the Minority amendments would be another example of how the administration has not backed up its sweeping promises with meaningful actions – similar to how the County Executive’s proposed budget fails to deliver on promises of a $128-million tax cut.
Furthermore, the administration’s failure to take steps toward delivering a promised assessment ‘fix’ recently resulted in 842 erroneous school tax bills that resulted in taxpayers being overcharged by more than $1.5 million – errors that the Minority Caucus first unearthed on Oct. 12. Separately, Department of Assessment officials estimate the County will be on the hook for another $6 million-plus to pay for pending Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR) decisions.
Click here to read the proposal.