Nassau County's surplus, assessments, catalytic converter thefts, senior taxes, and Trump vs. RFK Jr.

Different ways to do county surplus math

Nassau County ended fiscal year 2022 with a surplus of $435 million. This marks the fourth consecutive year of major operating surpluses.

I understand why Newsday reported a different number in “Nassau reports $80M surplus in 2022” News, July 4]: because that is the number based on the Nassau Interim Finance Authority’s calculation.

There are two different methods of calculating the county’s year-end financial results.

Nassau’s accounting is conducted in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board guidelines, which ensures consistent, comparable reporting by municipalities across the state and the nation.

NIFA uses a calculation that excludes several major factors that are important elements of the county’s fiscal operations.

Omitted from the NIFA calculation is the Sewer and Storm Water Resource District (one of the county’s three primary operating funds).

Additionally, NIFA omits the Litigation Fund, Bond Indebtedness Reserve Fund, Excess Sales Tax Fund, and several other reserve funds. These reserves are funded with county revenue, and they contribute to our sound fiscal condition.

The revenue that the county’s administration is responsibly channeling into these reserve funds to pay off past and future liabilities is an important part of the picture.

— Elaine Phillips, Mineola

The writer is Nassau County comptroller.

Assessment of assessor a bit odd

I was stunned by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s description of the tenure of Matthew Cronin, the acting county assessor [“Nassau acting assessor resigns,” News, July 1].

Blakeman stated that Cronin “was instrumental in upgrading the office, increasing transparency, accuracy and fairness in the assessment system and making sure residents always came first.”

Yet, as Newsday notes, under Cronin, 842 homeowners had their taxes increased by questionable actions on exemptions. These increases were slipped in without any notice to homeowners. And they might not have been caught except for an error by a staffer. The same error was repeated on the general tax bill, although more quickly caught and corrected. Newsday also mentions other errors that should have been caught with better review procedures. Yet Blakeman lauds him for transparency, accuracy and care for residents.

— Scott Diamond, Levittown

Fighting catalytic converter thefts

While the surge of catalytic converter thefts on Long Island has resulted in much victim frustration, the Nassau and Suffolk county police departments have made few arrests, with the surge ongoing “Battling thefts of catalytic converters,” News, July 2].

If you see police patrol cars sitting behind firehouses and school yards two cars at a time during peak theft times 2-4 a.m., as I often do, notify your police precinct. The officers instead could be patrolling their area neighborhoods looking for suspiciously parked cars and vans. Police conducting regular salvage yard inspections and doing undercover sales stings can only help.

Also, etching your VIN — vehicle identification number — on your catalytic converter is not as productive as one may think. Criminals don’t slide under a car looking for a VIN before they cut off a converter. Dishonest salvage and recycling yards could easily torch it off anyway.

Instead, contact state lawmakers and members of Congress to introduce legislation to make the theft or possession of stolen catalytic converters a felony with the threat of big fines and prison time.

— Thomas Callahan, Farmingdale

Trump-Kennedy ticket isn’t so far-fetched

A frightening thought occurred to me after reading Randi F. Marshall’s column “It’s a dangerous spotlight for RFK Jr.,” Opinion, June 30] on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

What if former President Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination and asks Kennedy to be his running mate? Crazy idea?

Marshall cites a poll that shows 40% of Republicans view Kennedy favorably along with 25% of Democrats and 31% of independents. This gives Trump access to some percentage of Democrats and independents that were likely voters for President Joe Biden. They may be just enough to win the few swing states.

Marshall indicates that Kennedy is more like Trump than we would suppose.

Kennedy recently said he was “proud” to get kind words from Trump. The conspiracy theories that are the basis of Kennedy’s campaign fit well with Trump voters.

Politics makes strange bedfellows, and none seems stranger than this.

— Bill Bernstein, Dix Hills