Thousands of Nassau residents seek $375 pandemic assistance

More than 10% of eligible households in Nassau have received a one-time, $375 direct payment through a county pandemic assistance program since it began six weeks ago and thousands of other applications are waiting for review.

Nassau officials this week said 43,000 payments have been sent to residents and 20,000 more applications have been filed as part of County Executive Laura Curran's Household Assistance Program.

The program, approved 18-1 by the Republican-led county legislature and signed into law Oct. 6, uses $100 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for direct payments to households with a combined income up to $500,000. The administration had estimated about 400,000 households were eligible.

"With holiday season fast-approaching, I encourage residents to spend this money in our main streets and support local businesses," Curran said.

Curran, a Democrat, who was defeated by Republican challenger Hempstead Town Councilman Bruce Blakeman in the Nov. 2 election, is asking the legislature to appropriate an additional $5.5 million to pay KPMG, the financial firm contracted to review the applications.

When pressed on Friday, a spokesman for Blakeman, who takes office on Jan. 1, said the county executive-elect would continue the program. Blakeman had previously come out against it on the campaign trail.

He said this week in a statement: "The administration tried to buy votes with these checks that do little to provide real financial relief to struggling residents."

A meeting of Nassau's 19-member legislature is scheduled for Monday. A spokesman for the Republican Majority said Friday that lawmakers are reviewing the administration's request for the additional funding.

Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said "the process to obtain the $375 payments has been difficult, and has left most residents with more questions than cash in their pockets."

"The Majority will continue to insist on greater efforts to assist eligible residents to participate in the program," Nicolello said.

Curran officials said residents can determine eligibility and apply at nassaucountyny.gov/HAP or by calling 516-571-1555. Walk-in support Centers are located at the Boost Nassau Resource Center, Eisenhower Park; 60 Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale; 40 Main St., Hempstead; and 1 West St., Mineola.

KPMG was paid $250,000 to begin the reviewing applications, which includes residents' tax returns uploaded to a secure online portal. For households making below $168,900, the county has asked KPMG to verify income and residency eligibility in their applications with a 2020 tax return.

Households making between $168,901 and $500,000 are required to submit an application with documentation verifying income and a negative economic impact from the pandemic, such as unemployment, receipt of social services benefits, missed mortgage payments, utility or unreimbursed medical bills, increased child care expenses, COVID-19-related death expenses or unreimbursed remote learning/work expenses including increased internet costs.

"The County Executive is committed to seeing the HAP and Boost Nassau programs through to the last day of her administration," said Curran spokeswoman Chris Geed. "It will be up to the Blakeman Administration to determine the remainder of their course."

Under the Curran plan, eligible households have the ability to receive the $375 up to 2026.

The county received $193 million from the American Rescue Plan, which President Joe Biden signed in March.

In late June, the county legislature approved Curran’s proposal to use $63 million from the American Rescue Plan allotment to fund: $32.5 million for economic recovery initiatives; $17.9 million for community assistance programs; $9 million for water infrastructure improvement and $3.5 million toward assistance for school districts and educational technology.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.