Mangano Announces Property Tax Hike Freeze for Next Three Years

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano recently released an updated multi-year plan that eliminates a 13 percent property tax hike planned by the former Suozzi administration for the next three years. The updated plan reveals a deficit inherited by the Mangano administration that could balloon disastrously in the next four years. 

"When I took office in January, I knew I had inherited a county that had been terribly mismanaged.  What I didn't realize is just how dire the situation is," said Mangano. "Despite this ugly reality, I refuse to allow property tax hikes at a time when families and seniors are stretched thin. Our county government must learn to do more with less."

In his review of the previous administration's 2010-2013 plan, adopted in October 2009, Mangano revealed that the finances of the county are dramatically worse than previously projected. The review indicates that the county executive inherited a budget gap of $133.2 million in 2010, which is projected to grow to $286.5 million in 2011, $330.7 million in 2012 and $378.3 million in 2013. 

Since Jan. 1, Mangano has been trying to address the deficit. His first act was to eliminate managerial positions and wasteful spending throughout all layers of the county government. Although it was a step in the right direction, Mangano acklowledged that more needs to be done to put the county on the road to recovery.

"This painful deficit was created by the perfect storm of fiscal challenges," said Mangano. "It is a deadly combination of Nassau's dysfunctional tax assessment system; long-term, costly and restrictive labor agreements negotiated by the prior Administration; and State and Federal unfunded mandates passed on to the county."