Now that the cheering is over, it’s time to ask a very troubling question: Did the Nassau Interim Finance Authority default on its responsibility to protect the residents of Nassau County when it voted 6-1 to approve a deal with municipal unions ending the three-year wage freeze?
At least one man for whom we have respect believes it did.
George Marlin, an outspoken conservative, resigned his post as a board member of NIFA at the end of his four-year term in December.
In a column posted in Long Island Business News, Marlin wrote that with its approval of the deal “NIFA sanctioned the fiscal demise of Nassau County and forfeited its reputation as an above-the-fray oversight board.”
He warns the deal is not cost neutral. He claims that even Nassau Comptroller George Maragos knows that the county will have to deal with significant shortfalls.
Either services will be cut and workers laid off or taxes will go up sharply.
With Marlin out of the picture, only one NIFA member opposed the new contracts. NIFA Director Chris Wright said the new contracts will cost the county a net $300 million.
“Every objective, competent analyst concerned with the county’s finances understands that. So does our staff. And so do we,” he said.
Marlin’s disdain for new NIFA Chairman Jon Kaiman, another person for whom we have respect, is no secret. Marlin and Kaiman stand at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum.
But Marlin’s concerns and those expressed by Wright merit serious consideration.
NIFA was created to be the voice of reason putting the brakes on county spending that could not be supported by credible projected revenues at a time when the county stood on the brink of bankruptcy. There is reason to fear that NIFA is not doing its job when it is needed most.
