manu/mldr-zoomed-100char-total-queries-documents

chunk_id stringlengths 3 9	chunk stringlengths 1 100
9853_43	the county legislature eliminated a home energy tax. That act reduced tax to the revenues county
9853_44	budget, and about a year after Mangano was sworn in, NIFA re-instituted a control period. A
9853_45	lawsuit by Nassau County contesting the legitimacy of the control board was unsuccessful, and NIFA
9853_46	articulated the limits of its duties and the budgetary reasons for a control board, in a statement.
9853_47	Prior to that court decision, the Republican leader in the county legislature, Peter Schmitt,
9853_48	appeared to liken the bipartisan members of NIFA to a Mafia family.
9853_49	The Mangano-NIFA relationship, with a control board in place, was marked by almost annual disputes
9853_50	over the budgets that Mangano submitted and the county legislature approved. A 2013 agreement
9853_51	between the police officers’ union and the county was criticized by NIFA. A multi-year plan
9853_52	submitted by the Mangano administration in 2015 was rejected by NIFA. NIFA implemented a wage
9853_53	freeze in 2011, though it was lifted over several years. NIFA rejected the county's 2016 budget,
9853_54	and implemented a quarterly review. In December 2017, NIFA ordered specific spending cuts after
9853_55	finding additional flaws in Mangano's budget.
9853_56	Jon Kaiman, who at the time was supervisor of the town of North Hempstead, was appointed by
9853_57	Governor Andrew Cuomo to be chairman of NIFA in 2013. Kaiman resigned in 2016 to run an
9853_58	unsuccessful effort to become the Democratic nominee for an open House seat. He was succeeded by
9853_59	banker Adam Barsky.
9853_60	NIFA and the Curran administration
9853_61	As 2018 began, Mangano was out of office, having chosen not to seek-re-election to a third term in
9853_62	2017 following his indictment on 2016 on federal corruption charges. (He was ultimately convicted.)
9853_63	The two contenders for his position, Republican Jack Martins, a former State Senator and
9853_64	unsuccessful U.S. House of Representatives candidate a year earlier against Suozzi, and Democrat
9853_65	Laura Curran, a former newspaper reporter for the New York Daily News and a county legislator, both
9853_66	said during the campaign that steps must be taken to bring Nassau out from NIFA oversight. Curran
9853_67	won the election, and NIFA issued a deadline to offer any significant changes to the Mangano 2018
9853_68	budget, the one with the NIFA-ordered cuts. Her selection of Mark Page as her chief budget officer
9853_69	was praised by NIFA chairman Adam Barsky, and Page had worked as a consultant to NIFA so was
9853_70	expected to understand its workings.
9853_71	In April 2018, Curran presented her first budget to NIFA and made a rare public appearance before
9853_72	the members. At that meeting, the "conundrum" that Curran faced, with a Republican legislative
9853_73	majority rejecting her plan to hike fees to help close the budget gap, was discussed.
9853_74	In one of the first significant actions under the Curran administration, NIFA in July 2018
9853_75	overwhelmingly rejected a Curran administration request to borrow funds to pay for an earlier court
9853_76	judgement that went against the county for the wrongful conviction of two men. At the meeting where
9853_77	the vote was held, a report was discussed that talked about the country's "growing risks" in its
9853_78	budget.
9853_79	In October 2018, NIFA warned that Nassau County's deficit for 2019 could be $59 million, though
9853_80	that was the lowest estimate since 2014. In a pointed critique, NIFA also noted the continuing
9853_81	situation where almost 20 years after NIFA was created, Nassau had still not taken the steps to end
9853_82	its oversight. "“Other municipalities with fewer resources, such as Buffalo, Washington, D.C., and
9853_83	Detroit, have moved beyond the tight control of their oversight monitors and it seems incongruous
9853_84	that Nassau County, one of the wealthiest counties in the Country, is unable to do the same,” NIFA
9853_85	wrote in its report on the deficit estimate.
9853_86	In November 2018, NIFA approved the first budget of the Curran administration. The approval was
9853_87	unanimous. The budget did include $100 million in borrowing solely to pay back tax grievances.
9853_88	However, NIFA chairman Adam Barsky said "We always have concerns, but I think the concern over this
9853_89	budget is less severe, less concerning than prior budgets."
9853_90	The sometimes-uncomfortable position that NIFA could find itself in relative to the county was
9853_91	evident in December 2018 when NIFA hired an outside attorney to sit in on county negotiations with
9853_92	its labor unions. NIFA hired the same individual that the county legislature had rejected just a
9853_93	few months earlier, raising questions about whether its "seat at the table" was proper or an
9853_94	unauthorized expansion of its role in day-to-day operations. Critics called the move an "end-run"
9853_95	around the legislature's rejection, which had been proposed by Curran.
9853_96	NIFA's chairman Barsky got additional powers in March 2019 when he was granted "pre-approval"
9853_97	authority to sign off on labor agreements the county reaches, though the full NIFA board must
9853_98	ultimately accept the contract.
9853_99	In early April, local newspaper Newsday wrote a story questioning whether NIFA was treating Curran
9853_100	with a softer approach than Mangano. Republicans charged NIFA had been tougher on Mangano, and
9853_101	cited Curran's tardiness in filing various reports with NIFA—which Mangano filed on time—and the
9853_102	muted response from NIFA. Barsky denied the allegations. Soon after that, NIFA rejected half of the
9853_103	county's borrowing requests that needed to go through NIFA because adequate notice had not been
9853_104	given to the full NIFA board.
9853_105	In February 2020, NIFA took control of the finances of the Nassau University Medical Center, saying
9853_106	its perilous finances posed a "material threat" to Nassau County, given the county's backing of the
9853_107	financially troubled hospital.
9853_108	In June 2020, NIFA approved the use of Goldman Sachs as the financial advisor on any new borrowing
9853_109	the county might need to undertake as a result of the pandemic.
9853_110	By a 4-1 vote, NIFA approved the county budget for 2021 in mid-December 2020. However, noting the
9853_111	difficult economic times, NIFA said in its approval message that the county would need to develop a
9853_112	plan by March 31, 2021, to be updated regularly, on dealing with projections of future deficits.
9853_113	The budget approved by the county and NIFA did include NIFA borrowing long-term to help the county
9853_114	recover from the revenue shortfall created by the pandemic. (See below for more discussion on NIFA
9853_115	and the pandemic.)
9853_116	A NIFA report in April 2021 on the county's financial performance in the prior year reported at
9853_117	$43.3 million surplus fueled both by federal pandemic aid and the refinancing of longer-term debt,
9853_118	a deal that Newsday columnist Joye Browne called "the mother of all one-shots.". But in releasing
9853_119	the report, NIFA chairman Barsky said the county had not eliminated its structural deficit and that
9853_120	it still faced long-term financial issues.
9853_121	The rejection by the Nassau Patrolman's Benevolent Association of a contract offer led to NIFA
9853_122	chairman Barsky declaring in February 2021 that the union was "barking up the wrong tree" if it
9853_123	believed the rejection was going to lead to a better deal. NIFA would need to approve any deal.
9853_124	Strengthening county finances due to several different factors did lead to renewed discussion in
9853_125	fall 2021 whether NIFA needed to continue either the control period, or even its existence. As
9853_126	Newsday noted at the time, there also were questions about who was going to continue serving on
9853_127	NIFA itself.
9853_128	In October 2021, NIFA weighed in on what amounted to a battle of dueling tax cuts proposed by both
9853_129	Republicans and Democrats prior to the 2021 election. It said that a package of Republican cuts in
9853_130	fees and a boost in its sales tax revenue would throw the 2022 budget "out of balance." But it also
9853_131	said a Curran plan to cut $70 million in property taxes would "jeopardize" the budget as well.
9853_132	Those Republican amendments passed the legislature but were vetoed by Curran. The budget was passed
9853_133	with the Curran tax cuts in place, but needs NIFA approval.
9853_134	On Election Day 2021, Curran suffered a shocking loss in her attempt to be re-elected, falling to
9853_135	Republican candidate Bruce Blakeman.
9853_136	In December, NIFA approved the final Curran budget by a vote of 5-0. At the vote, NIFA executive
9853_137	director Evan Cohen said the Curran budget, approved by the legislature, had a potential shortfall
9853_138	of $39 million but had the lowest risks of any budget in several years.
9853_139	NIFA and the pandemic
9853_140	The prospect of NIFA staying with oversight over Nassau until 2051 was raised by Newsday in July
9853_141	2020, given the huge deficit created by the pandemic and NIFA's ability to borrow money on a
9853_142	longer-term basis and at a lower interest rate.

9853_43

the county legislature eliminated a home energy tax. That act reduced tax to the revenues county

9853_44

budget, and about a year after Mangano was sworn in, NIFA re-instituted a control period. A

9853_45

lawsuit by Nassau County contesting the legitimacy of the control board was unsuccessful, and NIFA

9853_46

articulated the limits of its duties and the budgetary reasons for a control board, in a statement.

9853_47

Prior to that court decision, the Republican leader in the county legislature, Peter Schmitt,

9853_48

appeared to liken the bipartisan members of NIFA to a Mafia family.

9853_49

The Mangano-NIFA relationship, with a control board in place, was marked by almost annual disputes

9853_50

over the budgets that Mangano submitted and the county legislature approved. A 2013 agreement

9853_51

between the police officers’ union and the county was criticized by NIFA. A multi-year plan

9853_52

submitted by the Mangano administration in 2015 was rejected by NIFA. NIFA implemented a wage

9853_53

freeze in 2011, though it was lifted over several years. NIFA rejected the county's 2016 budget,

9853_54

and implemented a quarterly review. In December 2017, NIFA ordered specific spending cuts after

9853_55

finding additional flaws in Mangano's budget.

9853_56

Jon Kaiman, who at the time was supervisor of the town of North Hempstead, was appointed by

9853_57

Governor Andrew Cuomo to be chairman of NIFA in 2013. Kaiman resigned in 2016 to run an

9853_58

unsuccessful effort to become the Democratic nominee for an open House seat. He was succeeded by

9853_59

banker Adam Barsky.

9853_60

NIFA and the Curran administration

9853_61

As 2018 began, Mangano was out of office, having chosen not to seek-re-election to a third term in

9853_62

2017 following his indictment on 2016 on federal corruption charges. (He was ultimately convicted.)

9853_63

The two contenders for his position, Republican Jack Martins, a former State Senator and

9853_64

unsuccessful U.S. House of Representatives candidate a year earlier against Suozzi, and Democrat

9853_65

Laura Curran, a former newspaper reporter for the New York Daily News and a county legislator, both

9853_66

said during the campaign that steps must be taken to bring Nassau out from NIFA oversight. Curran

9853_67

won the election, and NIFA issued a deadline to offer any significant changes to the Mangano 2018

9853_68

budget, the one with the NIFA-ordered cuts. Her selection of Mark Page as her chief budget officer

9853_69

was praised by NIFA chairman Adam Barsky, and Page had worked as a consultant to NIFA so was

9853_70

expected to understand its workings.

9853_71

In April 2018, Curran presented her first budget to NIFA and made a rare public appearance before

9853_72

the members. At that meeting, the "conundrum" that Curran faced, with a Republican legislative

9853_73

majority rejecting her plan to hike fees to help close the budget gap, was discussed.

9853_74

In one of the first significant actions under the Curran administration, NIFA in July 2018

9853_75

overwhelmingly rejected a Curran administration request to borrow funds to pay for an earlier court

9853_76

judgement that went against the county for the wrongful conviction of two men. At the meeting where

9853_77

the vote was held, a report was discussed that talked about the country's "growing risks" in its

9853_78

budget.

9853_79

In October 2018, NIFA warned that Nassau County's deficit for 2019 could be $59 million, though

9853_80

that was the lowest estimate since 2014. In a pointed critique, NIFA also noted the continuing

9853_81

situation where almost 20 years after NIFA was created, Nassau had still not taken the steps to end

9853_82

its oversight. "“Other municipalities with fewer resources, such as Buffalo, Washington, D.C., and

9853_83

Detroit, have moved beyond the tight control of their oversight monitors and it seems incongruous

9853_84

that Nassau County, one of the wealthiest counties in the Country, is unable to do the same,” NIFA

9853_85

wrote in its report on the deficit estimate.

9853_86

In November 2018, NIFA approved the first budget of the Curran administration. The approval was

9853_87

unanimous. The budget did include $100 million in borrowing solely to pay back tax grievances.

9853_88

However, NIFA chairman Adam Barsky said "We always have concerns, but I think the concern over this

9853_89

budget is less severe, less concerning than prior budgets."

9853_90

The sometimes-uncomfortable position that NIFA could find itself in relative to the county was

9853_91

evident in December 2018 when NIFA hired an outside attorney to sit in on county negotiations with

9853_92

its labor unions. NIFA hired the same individual that the county legislature had rejected just a

9853_93

few months earlier, raising questions about whether its "seat at the table" was proper or an

9853_94

unauthorized expansion of its role in day-to-day operations. Critics called the move an "end-run"

9853_95

around the legislature's rejection, which had been proposed by Curran.

9853_96

NIFA's chairman Barsky got additional powers in March 2019 when he was granted "pre-approval"

9853_97

authority to sign off on labor agreements the county reaches, though the full NIFA board must

9853_98

ultimately accept the contract.

9853_99

In early April, local newspaper Newsday wrote a story questioning whether NIFA was treating Curran

9853_100

with a softer approach than Mangano. Republicans charged NIFA had been tougher on Mangano, and

9853_101

cited Curran's tardiness in filing various reports with NIFA—which Mangano filed on time—and the

9853_102

muted response from NIFA. Barsky denied the allegations. Soon after that, NIFA rejected half of the

9853_103

county's borrowing requests that needed to go through NIFA because adequate notice had not been

9853_104

given to the full NIFA board.

9853_105

In February 2020, NIFA took control of the finances of the Nassau University Medical Center, saying

9853_106

its perilous finances posed a "material threat" to Nassau County, given the county's backing of the

9853_107

financially troubled hospital.

9853_108

In June 2020, NIFA approved the use of Goldman Sachs as the financial advisor on any new borrowing

9853_109

the county might need to undertake as a result of the pandemic.

9853_110

By a 4-1 vote, NIFA approved the county budget for 2021 in mid-December 2020. However, noting the

9853_111

difficult economic times, NIFA said in its approval message that the county would need to develop a

9853_112

plan by March 31, 2021, to be updated regularly, on dealing with projections of future deficits.

9853_113

The budget approved by the county and NIFA did include NIFA borrowing long-term to help the county

9853_114

recover from the revenue shortfall created by the pandemic. (See below for more discussion on NIFA

9853_115

and the pandemic.)

9853_116

A NIFA report in April 2021 on the county's financial performance in the prior year reported at

9853_117

$43.3 million surplus fueled both by federal pandemic aid and the refinancing of longer-term debt,

9853_118

a deal that Newsday columnist Joye Browne called "the mother of all one-shots.". But in releasing

9853_119

the report, NIFA chairman Barsky said the county had not eliminated its structural deficit and that

9853_120

it still faced long-term financial issues.

9853_121

The rejection by the Nassau Patrolman's Benevolent Association of a contract offer led to NIFA

9853_122

chairman Barsky declaring in February 2021 that the union was "barking up the wrong tree" if it

9853_123

believed the rejection was going to lead to a better deal. NIFA would need to approve any deal.

9853_124

Strengthening county finances due to several different factors did lead to renewed discussion in

9853_125

fall 2021 whether NIFA needed to continue either the control period, or even its existence. As

9853_126

Newsday noted at the time, there also were questions about who was going to continue serving on

9853_127

NIFA itself.

9853_128

In October 2021, NIFA weighed in on what amounted to a battle of dueling tax cuts proposed by both

9853_129

Republicans and Democrats prior to the 2021 election. It said that a package of Republican cuts in

9853_130

fees and a boost in its sales tax revenue would throw the 2022 budget "out of balance." But it also

9853_131

said a Curran plan to cut $70 million in property taxes would "jeopardize" the budget as well.

9853_132

Those Republican amendments passed the legislature but were vetoed by Curran. The budget was passed

9853_133

with the Curran tax cuts in place, but needs NIFA approval.

9853_134

On Election Day 2021, Curran suffered a shocking loss in her attempt to be re-elected, falling to

9853_135

Republican candidate Bruce Blakeman.

9853_136

In December, NIFA approved the final Curran budget by a vote of 5-0. At the vote, NIFA executive

9853_137

director Evan Cohen said the Curran budget, approved by the legislature, had a potential shortfall

9853_138

of $39 million but had the lowest risks of any budget in several years.

9853_139

NIFA and the pandemic

9853_140

The prospect of NIFA staying with oversight over Nassau until 2051 was raised by Newsday in July

9853_141

2020, given the huge deficit created by the pandemic and NIFA's ability to borrow money on a

9853_142

longer-term basis and at a lower interest rate.