Richard Nicolello, the presiding leader of the Nassau Assembly, has been holding meetings throughout the county to alleviate residents’ fears regarding property tax reassessments. Reassessment just rearranges the deck chairs on the Titanic, however.
The real issue is burdensome, confiscatory taxation and this year will be especially gruesome for some unfortunate Nassau residents as they face the double burden of reassessment and SALT. As a result, we will continue to see our neighbors, young people and elderly taxed out of their homes — forced to abandon family and friends of a lifetime.
Nassau, Rockland and Westchester counties are the highest taxed counties in the nation because New York state politicians have passed laws that mandate lavish benefits and automatic salary increases, also known as annual step increases, on public sector employees. Every few years, local lawmakers get a chance to follow up by negotiating generous union contracts which simply sweeten the pot.
Both state and local elected officials have passed laws and negotiated contracts which include generous salaries, 20 years to retirement, overtime pension padding, guaranteed pensions, automatic salary step increases, permanent job security and lifetime medical benefits.
Nassau County paid public sector employee payouts of $1.04 billion in 2017. Our politicians have given us the $698,650 police captain, the $593,044 police sergeant, the $154,309 golf course attendant, the $153,621 clerk-typist, the $152,764.43 social services coordinator, just to name a few. In exchange for all the goodies, public sector unions contribute generously to political campaigns, providing the grease for re-election. When some local lawmakers sit down to negotiate new union contracts with public sector union bosses, they all sit on the same side of the table. The taxpayer has no seat at the negotiating table.
Since public sector unionized employees receive state-mandated benefits and automatic step salary increases of 2 to 4 percent annually, why do local politicians negotiate labor contracts which only serve to further increase salaries and benefits? Since the state cannot or will not reform, it is up to our local officials to end the corruption by freezing public sector union contracts, which have given us the $698,650 police captain and made us the laughing stock of the nation.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s cry of reassessment “fairness” is juvenile, insulting and an effort to obfuscate the truth. The truth is there is nothing fair about pushing people out of their homes and separating families.
Her “fairness” argument begs the question: “Why not lower all the people’s taxes?”
Laurann Pandelakis
Manhasset
