Nassau Notebook: 2012 Budget Moves Forward, Gun Buy Back Program

2012 Budget Plans Push Forward

According to Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, since Nassau’s labor unions have not provided the voluntary concessions required by law, the county executive has submitted plans that achieve $73.2 million in annual reoccurring labor-related budget savings as required by the 2012 budget to the Nassau Legislature. Together, the county and Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) officials asked union presidents to work with the administration to achieve voluntary savings through negotiations, the county said in a press release this week.

To date, negotiations have not produced the required voluntary savings. This first-round of automatic triggers will be implemented through legislation which institutes layoffs and demotions. The plan includes:

• An approximate 400 headcount reduction through layoffs and attrition (no police officers will be taken off the streets).
• 200-plus demotions.

The legislation submitted Monday will be amended to reflect any labor deal reached. The budget provides that if an additional $75 million in budget savings are not reached by Feb. 1, 2012, additional labor savings/reductions will occur.

According to the county, with the average compensation package reaching $285,692 for superior officers, $246,668 for detectives, $198,357 for PBA officers, $155,005 for sheriff officers and $109,461 for CSEA employees, there is room to help Nassau County government through this "tough economy."

New Hotel Projected to Create Jobs, Generate Revenue

Mangano and officials from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) joined executives from AVR-Carle Place Associates, LLC, at a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday to mark the future home of a new 150-unit Homewood Suites Hotel, built on an undeveloped automobile storage yard in Carle Place. The public-private partnership is projected to create 39 new permanent jobs, 70 construction jobs and generate more than $15 million in economic activity for Nassau County.

Construction of the extended-stay hotel at 234 Westbury Ave. is expected to begin within 30 days and be completed within 15 months. Once completed, the Homewood Suites Hotel will create a new source of hotel/motel tax revenue for the county. The IDA provided AVR with a property tax Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program, a mortgage recoding tax exemption and a sales tax exemption for purchases of equipment and furnishings for the new hotel.

Gun Buy Back Program

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano, District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Acting Police Commissioner Tom Krumpter announced today that they will be hosting a Gun Buy Back Program on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Grace Cathedral, located at 944 Jerusalem Ave. in Uniondale.

The Gun Buy Back Program is strictly anonymous and individuals will be paid $200 cash per turned in operable handgun. Not accepted are: licensed guns, BB Guns, air pistols, long guns and replicas. Guns transported by car must be transported in the trunk of the car and must be unloaded and put in a plastic/paper bag or in a shoe box.

“More than 1,500 guns have been turned in as a result of our gun buy back program,” said County Executive Mangano.