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Balancing the Books Without Tax Increases
By Dr. Justin R. Renz
By Dr. Justin R. Renz, Associate Professor of Public Administration
at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. An expert
on budgeting small businesses and employee motivation, Dr. Renz
has studied the NIMBY Syndrome (Not In My Backyard) and can be
reached through the C.W. Post Public Relations Office at (516)
299-2333.
August 1999 -- Nassau County Government is in trouble. A series
of significant annual deficits during this decade has led to
a staggering $300 + million deficit in 1999. This in turn has
caused Wall Street, where the county government sells its debt,
to vote no confidence in the Gulotta administration to solve
its fiscal problems.
Wall street was right. During 1999, Nassau citizens have been
led through a series of hare brained schemes to raise county
revenues rather than doing what they should do - cut expenditures.
Recently this culminated in the passage of the real estate transfer
inequitable and damaging particularly to Nassau's senior citizens
who want to sell their homes as well as to the county's long
term economic development prospects.
This lack of professionalism and courage to make the right
decisions in county fiscal affairs is ironic in a county that
had a national reputation after World War II for fiscal integrity
and stringency. This approach to good government was initially
led by Republicans J. Russell Sprague and A. Holly Patterson
and then Democrat Eugene Nickerson. It attracted hundreds of
thousands of NYC residents who were tired of being ripped off
by Tammany politicians whose only answer to fiscal problems was
to tax some more and then study them to death with "blue
ribbon" commission who were advisory in nature. Sound familiar?
Six months ago the Nassau Citizens Budget Committee approached
the Gulotta administration with a comprehensive proposal which
would have evaluated the county's overall delivery of services,
fiscal and administrative management, personnel motivation, strategic
planning, and general adherence to sound public administration
principles. It's timetable was to come up with initial cost cutting
solutions which would have told Wall Street that the county government
was tackling its fiscal problems professionally and expeditiously.
This was necessary before they downgraded its debt to near junk
bond status. After a hearing before two county officials the
Committee never heard from them again. Wall Street then subsequently
downgraded their debt. Inherent in the proposal were about twenty
areas where expenditures could be cut and county books balanced
without tax increases. This would only occur if the Gulotta administration
had the courage to advocate and implement them. Specific items
included:
- Cut county management and legislative salaries by 15% for
the next 28 months until the next county administration comes
into office. Why 15%? Because the county budget is likely to
be at least 15% in the red during this year and county leaders
should set a positive example to rectify the situation.
- Initiate discussion with county unions to re-negotiate contracts
in order to cut employee salaries by 15% at least during the
next 28 months.
- Get rid of all executive cars on a permanent basis except
for uniform services administrative personnel.
- Undertake a salary pay study which would compare Nassau's
salaries with other major suburban counties throughout the country.
If they were "our of line" start to change them.
- Launch an overhead staffing study to determine if county's
agencies and departments are managerially "top heavy"
compared to other major suburban counties in the united States.
- Cut out of the budget all vacant or unfilled positions.
- Pinpoint and consolidate all fragmented, duplicative or overlapping
county government services. This would also include an examination
of duplicative Town government services.
- Form an administrative committee within each county department
and agency to review the need for materials and supply requests
in terms of service levels.
- Create an integrated county purchasing system which would
encourage "just-in-time" inventory controls.
- Establish incentive and motivation programs for county employees
in order to achieve higher employee productivity.
- Determine what managerial changes should be instituted to
improve coordination and communication between the County Executive
and county departments and agencies.
- Identify all mandated and discretionary county services.
Mandated and discretionary services would be reviewed to determine
if they are absolutely necessary and why?
- Stress efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of county
services by establishing performance and accountability standards.
- Recruit strong pro-active professional managers for all county
departments and agencies.
- Reestablish a county wide training program for both county
management and line employees to improve their productivity.
- Develop a managerial evaluation unit attached to the County
Executive Office to monitor the on-going efficiency and effectiveness
of all county operations.
- Restore professional fiscal management expenditure and revenue
activities conducted by the county Budget Office.
- Eliminate where possible the need for county rental facilities.
- Inaugurate county government comprehensive strategic planning
to establish short-term service objectives and long term county
goals. This is particularly needed as the county enters the 21st
century.
- Advocate contracting out county services to the private or
non-profit sectors if they can furnish them cheaper.
- Finally review the efficacy, need for, and the cost of outside
consultants in all county program operations.
Unfortunately, Nassau's fiscal problems cannot be swept under
the rug by a "blue ribbon" advisory committee. They
will only grow in intensity and seriousness. Perhaps it is time
that County Executive Gulotta recognize that this is his last
term and start to advocate and implement some significant proposals
to cut county government expenditures rather than pushing poorly
thought-out revenue schemes or just raising taxes. by doing so
perhaps his reputations can be saved.
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