Nassau County, Led by Tea Party Executive, In Fiscal Crisis

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangaro, elected on tea party ideals, cut taxes and added $40 million to the deficit. The county’s bonds have been downgraded and a state oversight agency is about to step in on the verge of a fiscal crisis. Mangaro cut taxes, but not services, while handing out patronage jobs.

Mr. Mangano is pleading for more time, publicly saying he was personally negotiating with the unions for significant savings. Privately, he has been lobbying state lawmakers to let him raise the county’s sales tax by a quarter of a percent, which would generate about $60 million. Getting the sales tax increase, union leaders said in interviews, was a precondition for them to make concessions.

Mangano rode into office promising to do away with a heating tax, but never replaced the lost revenue. Having a plan to simply lower taxes isn’t enough, as Nassau County is finding out the hard way.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.