Nassau County submitted a new budget to the Nassau Interim Finance Authority Tuesday after the finance authority sent the county back to the drawing board to address what it termed legal violations.
The county had until the end of day Tuesday to submit an amended proposal before NIFA would take over and make its own budget for the county.
Details of the amended four-year fiscal plan for 2025-2028 were not available as Schneps Media Long Island went to press.
“NIFA needs to act now to stem the tide of Blakeman’s mismanagement and out-of-control spending,” Nassau Residents for Good Government said in a statement. Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, is the Nassau County executive.
Efforts to solicit comment from the county’s Office of Management & Budget were unavailing.
NIFA sent the county back to the drawing board with its budget due to an imbalance bridged through the use of $30 million in fund balances, or prior year surpluses, every year in the four-year plan. This practice is not compliant with generally accepted accounting practices, which are required.
The resident group expressed concern this hole could be even larger after the county’s red light camera violation fees were overruled by a court, leading to a shortfall of expected income.
The other issue raised by NIFA was Nassau Health Care Corporation, the parent company of Nassau University Medical Center, refusing to provide funding for the county’s non-federal share of program payments.
NUMC is Nassau County’s only publicly funded hospital and its operations are largely financed by taxpayer dollars.
The federal government currently funds 50% of the program’s amount and the remaining balance is to be covered by Nassau County and/or NHCC, according to NIFA.
NIFA’s resolution said counsel for NHCC rejected any obligation to fund the local share of the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital program and Medicaid Upper Payment Limit program payments in a Nov. 21 letter to NIFA.
The finance authority said this poses “significant risks” as the county Legislature has not properly addressed this issue in the budget.
This lapse in funds could amount to tens of millions of dollars each year.
The future of the hospital is threatened by the center’s decades-long financial problems and the inability of its management, the state and Nassau County to agree on who will run and where the money is coming from to cover its expenses.
The hospital filed a notice of claims against the State of New York on Nov. 19 that alleges the hospital was defrauded millions of dollars.
NIFA passed a resolution two weeks ago that cited these two issues for its disapproval of the multi-year financial plan. This gave the county two weeks to amend the budget.
The finance authority’s budget disapproval was the first in six years.
Blakeman’s $4.2 billion 2025 budget passed the GOP-led legislature on Oct. 30 along party lines 12-6, with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing.
Republicans previously argued against NIFA’s report being an accurate representation of the county’s finances.
“Nassau County is the most fiscally sound large county in the United States and this is further evidence of the [Gov. Kathy] Hochul puppet’s mischief.” Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Blakeman, previously told Schneps Media Long Island.
