Bruce Blakeman proposes $4.1B Nassau budget with no tax increase, more police

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman on Friday proposed a $4.1 billion budget for 2024, raising county spending by $180 million over last year and funding 50 new positions, including 20 police officers.

The spending plan does not include a rise or reduction in property taxes and most county fees. 

Blakeman, a Republican, is required by county charter to file a budget by Sept. 15. He declined an interview request.

The proposed budget funds 7,463 jobs in county government — 50 more than last year — mostly in the health, probation, police, and social services departments. Administration officials said hiring more public safety personnel would help curb excessive overtime. 

Spending on total salaries is expected to rise from $989.8 million in 2023 to $1.02 billion in 2024, an increase of 3.1%. 

In a letter accompanying the budget, Blakeman committed to using surplus funds to tackle long-running county issues: reducing a backlog of property tax refunds, settling labor disputes and funding new labor agreements. The Nassau Legislature on Monday is expected to approve a new contract with the county's largest public employee union, the Civil Service Employees Association.

The budget includes funding for training two more classes of police and correction officers, and additional money for bus services and early intervention and preschool programs. 

Sales tax receipts — some of the biggest drivers of the budget — are projected to be around $1.6 billion, up from $1.5 billion in the previous year. The budget raises $755 million in the property tax levy, the same as in 2023 and 2022.

The county legislature, where Republicans hold a 12-7 majority, will have to approve the budget and can make changes or amendments to the proposal. The plan then goes to the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, a state board that controls county finances, for final approval. A NIFA spokesman declined to comment Friday.

Nassau County Budget Director Andrew Persich said Blakeman had "strategically placed monies in reserves for any unforeseen expenses for revenue shortfalls." The reserve fund is $900 million, according to the budget.

The reserves do not include a $54 million lump sum payment Las Vegas Sands paid for its 99-year lease of the county-owned, 72-acre Coliseum property in Uniondale, Persich said. And Blakeman's administration is still negotiating with legislators over how to use $270 million of federal pandemic funding they moved into the general fund in June, according to his spokesman, Chris Boyle.

Democratic county legislators said Blakeman's budget should have cut the property tax levy. They cited his stance in 2021, when he ran for county executive and urged a plan to "immediately cut taxes," according to his campaign website.

“As we scrutinize this proposal, the Minority Caucus will continue to fight for ‘immediate’ additional tax cuts that the County Executive first pledged two years ago but has thus far failed to deliver," Nassau Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said in a statement. 

In a statement, Blakeman said: "As County Executive, I have provided real tax relief to our residents without resorting to the reckless fiscal policies of the past."