Nassau County Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) joined in unanimously approving several home-rule messages at a special legislative meeting on Tuesday, June 18 that enabled the successful passage of several New York State legislative initiatives vital to Nassau County's fiscal recovery.

"The leadership provided by our state legislature, especially that of the Long Island delegation, has helped Nassau County take a emphatic and encouraging step towards fiscal stability," said Legislator Jacobs. "We must now focus on building on this momentum and following through on the financial plan set forth by County Executive Thomas Suozzi."

Among the state initiatives that were approved on the final day of the legislative session was the reform of the Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency, putting it under the direct authority of the County Executive. This initiative, as well as several others relating to the reform of this agency, was identified in a special hearing held in late 2000. It is projected that the county will realize revenues of $7.5 million by 2005.

The state also passed a legislative initiative that will dramatically alter the County's tax assessment and certiorari process, a system that has buckled under the weight of a relentless stream of grievances over the last decade. According to this legislation, the County will have one year to review grievances and achieve settlements before triggering its refund obligations. This initiative will save $39 million between 2002 and 2005.

A third state initiative expands the bonding authority of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA), the state oversight board. The legislation provides NIFA with enough additional bonding authority to cover Nassau County's $1.2 billion tax refund obligations, which will enable the County to retire its outstanding tax certiorari debt eight years ahead of schedule, producing savings of nearly $300 million.

A final initiative, prompted by another of the legislature's home rule messages, was the exemption of eligible senior citizens from the County's proposed 2003 real property tax increase. The eligibility requirements will mirror those established for the New York State Enhanced School Tax Relief (STAR) program.

Earlier this year, the state legislature established an early retirement program to assist the County in reducing its workforce. The County opted into the state program and is projected to save $42.9 million by 2005.