tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14091116.post3336027449566894937..comments2023-07-28T07:07:48.002-04:00Comments on The Community Alliance Blog: A Short-Term, No Gimmick Fix For Nassau's Property Tax WoesThe Community Alliancehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05874256614338547604noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14091116.post-92035899880310459722010-01-05T10:14:15.459-05:002010-01-05T10:14:15.459-05:00I sincerely, desperately want to believe something...I sincerely, desperately want to believe something like this could work, but honesty compels me to admit that I have doubts. The biggest single cost driver impacting taxes is labor and benefits. Much of this is either an outgrowth of excessive patronage, too many special districts, or overly generous labor contracts awarded to politically active public employee unions. None of our elected leaders has shown that they are actually willing to, well, LEAD when it comes to directly addressing these problems. Instead, they seem to specialize in creating the appearance that they are doing something when in point of fact nothing's changing. Mangnano has already shown evidence of this tendency, by authorizing a "study" identifying cost reduction opportunities in Nassau's budget. Meanwhile, something like 48% of Nassau's budget goes to labor and benefits. Sorry Ed, but it ain't rocket science. You don't need a study to figure out what needs to happen here -but you do need some backbone when it comes to either reducing headcounts or re-negotiating labor agreements, and despite your campaign rhetoric, until and unless you take action on this front, your so-called "tax revolt" will be little more than an empty slogan.Questionauthoritynoreply@blogger.com