Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano has introduced legislation to waive county rebuilding fees for victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Mangano said in a press release issued by his office that the bill is designed to provide economic hardship victims of the storm, which caused $60 billion in damage in the tri-state area, cut off power to nearly 1 million Long Island residents and caused devastating flooding on the South Shore.
“As our residents struggle to rebuild their lives from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, I am pleased to introduce legislation that will alleviate some of the financial burden that stands in their way,” said Mangano in the press release. “This legislation assists Nassau residents in the monumental task of rebuilding their lives by waiving Nassau County fees.”
The bill would waive all county department fees for permits or services needed to repair storm damage. Applicants will be required to demonstrate good cause for the waiver, including providing a Federal Emergency Management Agency identification number and a notarized statement that the waived fees are for services directly linked to Sandy repairs.
Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park), who is chairman of the Legislature’s finance committee, said the bill passed committee unanimously and is likely to get bipartisan support in the full legislature.
“I’m definitely going to support it. People have been devastated by the storm, literally kicked out of their houses. Any extent that we can lessen their hardship is something we should do,” Nicolello said. “Whatever savings you can achieve for somebody is something we should be doing.”
Both Nicolello and Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) said the bill was still vague on some of the details. Nicolello said he was not sure how much the measure would cost the county, and Bosworth said it was passed through committee with the expectation that the specific fees to be waived would be listed before the bill is voted on by the full legislature.
“I think there were questions really from both sides of the aisle. Certainly we want to see anything that can be done to give those who were so adversely affected by the hurricane relief in any way possible,” Bosworth said.
Legislators asked which specific fees would be included and wanted to clarify that fees covered by homeowners’ insurance policies would not be waived, according to Bosworth.
“Certainly we want to see this happen but not in ways that would adversely affect the county,” Bosworth said. “The sense that I got was that assuming these specifics were included in the bill, there seemed to be bipartisan support for it.”
Should the bill become law, it will apply retroactively and applicants would be able to apply for refunds if they have already paid fees connected to storm repair.
The move comes after several municipalities including Mineola and the villages of Great Neck, Kensington and Thomaston reduced or eliminated their application fees for people seeking to repair storm damage to their homes or businesses.
Reach reporter Dan Glaun by e-mail at dglaun@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x203. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
