The Nassau County Legislature has approved Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s $4.2 billion 2025 budget that the county’s fiscal oversight agency warned is financially risky.
The GOP-led legislature voted on Oct. 30 along party lines — Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing — to approve the budget.
“I’m very pleased that the Republican Majority unanimously passed our no tax increase budget over the objections of Democrats who wanted a tax increase to give them more money to squander away on wasteful spending,” Blakeman, a Republican, said in a statement to the Press.
However, the budget has multiple structural shortcomings that may “threaten the county’s long-term financial stability,” according to a 28-page Oct. 22 report by the Nassau County Interim Financial Authority (NIFA), a nonpartisan oversight committee.
The NIFA report, according to members of the Republican majority, is not an accurate assessment of Nassau County’s fiscal state.
“Nassau County is in the best fiscal condition ever,” said Chris Boyle, spokesperson for Blakeman, “Including no tax increases and six Wall Street upgrades in the last three years.”
The budget increases spending for areas like early childhood intervention. However, it does not provide the tax cuts that Blakeman promised when he ran.
“This marks the third consecutive budget in which County Executive Blakeman has broken his promise to cut taxes and fees in Nassau County, further eroding trust in his leadership, and his reliance on reserves and budgetary sleight of hand is unsustainable and reckless,” Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said. “The residents of Nassau County deserve a budget that is more than a one-time fix and a temporary Band-Aid for a chronic problem. We demand a comprehensive and transparent financial strategy that secures long-term stability and genuinely delivers on the promises that have been made to taxpayers.”
