Nassau County - Long Island, New York

Nassau County: A Year In Review

 Over the past 12 months, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano has worked tirelessly to protect residents from a tax hike by standing up to the special interests, reining in wasteful spending and creating private sector jobs. The County Executive has also worked to improve services for veterans, seniors and children - all while holding the line on property taxes and reducing spending.

Holding the Line on Taxes:

  • Second Consecutive Budget with No Property Tax Increase.
  • Second Consecutive Year with No Home Heating Tax – protected residents from the special interests who demanded the County reinstate the Home Heating Tax (the equivalent of a 5 percent property tax hike). County Executive Mangano repealed this tax in 2010.

Protecting Taxpayers by Slashing Wasteful Spending:

  • Department Consolidation/Workforce Reduction/Elimination of Duplicative Work – saved taxpayers nearly $200 million annually by consolidating operations and departments, cutting wasteful spending, rightsizing the workforce to the lowest level since the 1950’s and by freezing wages for all employees. In fact, County Executive Mangano reduced the County workforce by over 1,000 positions.
  • NICE Bus – County Executive Mangano stood up to the MTA to save taxpayers $32 million annually through the implementation of a public-private partnership for the operation of Nassau County’s bus system. County Executive Mangano also filed a lawsuit to end the MTA’s job-killing payroll tax.
  • Residential Tax Grievance Negotiation & Settlement Program – saves taxpayers nearly $30 million annually through the implementation of an expedited process for settling residential property tax grievances.
  • Welfare Fraud – saved taxpayers $15 million through improved welfare fraud detection practices in the Department of Social Services Office of Investigations and saving residents from costly overpayments.
  • Energy Efficiency – saves taxpayers $7.5 million in natural gasoline costs due to an agreement with Hess Corporation (ESCO).
  • Long Island Intergovernmental Purchasing Council (LIPC) – saved taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars through bulk purchases for common goods and services used by municipalities throughout Long Island.
  • School Savings Initiatives – saved taxpayers thousands of dollars through a groundbreaking shared service initiative, launched by a consortium that includes Nassau County, BOCES and public school districts, which helps school districts save on the cost of state-mandated annual internal audits.

Creating Private Sector Jobs:

  • County Executive Mangano has a long record of creating private sector jobs. In fact, he created 15,000 jobs and expanded several industries including research and development, homeland defense, composite manufacturing and film and television production.
  • In 2011, County Executive Mangano added 1,600 New Private-Sector Jobs through the approval of 13 economic development projects. Together, these projects will create nearly 1,600 new private sector jobs and retain nearly 800 permanent private sector jobs in Nassau County. According to Camoin Associates, an independent economic analysis firm, these projects are estimated to generate more than $1.3 billion in economic activity for the local economy.
  • “Accelerate Nassau Now” Jobs Plan - Building on his efforts to attract new jobs and increase County revenue without raising property taxes, County Executive Mangano created the “Accelerate Nassau Now” plan. This plan enhances Nassau’s Hub by addressing obstacles to redeveloping the full 77-acres site while adhering to the Town of Hempstead’s mixed-use zoning requirements for the property. The County is seeking to attract developers to privately-finance a new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, minor league ballpark, multi-purpose exposition center, multi-purpose track and field facility, a Bioscience Innovation Center, Research and Development Expo Center and residential housing options.
  • Job Fairs – County Executive Mangano sponsored two well-attended private sector job fairs. Employers from across Long Island attended and were seeking candidates for all positions, including entry and management level, licensed professionals, and technicians. Nassau County also partnered with Family Residences and Essential Enterprises Inc. (FREE) for Long Island’s first job fair for residents with autism and disabilities, where hundreds of differently abled job seekers from both Nassau and Suffolk Counties connected with dozens of Long Island businesses at the FREE.
  • Employers of the Month – County Executive Mangano is working tirelessly to support local employers and enjoy residents to shop local. Thus, Mangano has created ‘Employer of the Month’ to honor companies throughout Nassau County that are committed to creating and retaining local jobs.
  • Film & TV Production Expansion – none sound stages and 2 studios now offer state of the art services to the film and television production industry.

Public Safety:

  • Gun Buy Back Program – County Executive Mangano hosted two Gun Buy Back Program’s in 2011, which collected more than 1,500 dangerous and illegal weapons off the streets; making Nassau County a safer place to live.
  • Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force – County Executive Mangano established a new Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force with State Senator Jack Martins and State Assemblyman Edward Ra to further combat the growing epidemic of prescription drug misuse and abuse.

Seniors

  • Drug Disposal Programs – Nassau County participated in multiple DEA Prescription Drug Take-Back Programs in 2011. Residents were encouraged to properly dispose of unwanted, unused, and/or expired medications at local police precincts.
  • Yellow Dot/Vial of Life Programs – County Executive Mangano implemented two new life-saving programs in 2011. The Yellow Dot Program will assist in lifesaving measures involving victims of automobile accident. The Vial of Life Program similarly assists individuals during emergencies at the home.
  • Senior Reception & Holiday Concert Series – County Executive Mangano hosted a senior luncheon reception and new Holiday Concert Series at Mitchel Field. These free programs were provided to Nassau County seniors due to the support of several generous sponsors.

Veterans:

  • New Veteran Housing –County Executive Mangano established 42 County-owned homes, located on Mitchel Field, to house homeless veterans and their families and an additional 18 homes for active military personnel. Additionally, the County Legislature approved Mangano’s plan for the sale of a vacant County-owned property in Hicksville to a not-for-profit corporation that will construct a home for a returning veteran. The not-for-profit corporation, Homes For Our Homecoming Heroes, Inc., is a volunteer-based organization whose mission is to build affordable housing for veterans returning home from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • New Veterans Service Agency at NUMC – The County held a grand opening for the Nassau Veterans Service Agency (VSA) office in East Meadow at Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC). The County also joined in the opening of a new Veterans Affairs (VA) health clinic at NUMC to provide state-of-the-art medical care for Nassau County’s veterans.
  • Military Funeral Protest Law – County Executive Mangano, Gold Star Parents and other veterans vowed to join the Patriot Guard Riders, a national group with more than 300,000 volunteers, to form a barrier or shield with an American flag to keep the protesters from being seen by families. County Executive Mangano introduced legislation, which the state later passed, to restrict funeral demonstrations.

Other Initiatives:

  • Games for the Physically Challenged: Due to New York State’s elimination of all funding for the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged, County Executive Mangano helped raise the necessary private-sector funds to Save the Games and keep the 20 year old tradition alive in 2011.
  • Affordable Housing – Through the collaboration of the Nassau County Neighborhood Stabilization Program and the Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDC’s) Reclaim Long Island Homes program, first-time homebuyers in Nassau County are now in a position to purchase homes.
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