Agent Christopher Wright is a former Director of Nassau OTB who helped allow Nassau OTB to bet your $23,000,000 on the Nassau OTB Race Palace when many many many... told OTB it was a BAD BET.
NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3 say that Andrew Cuomo is not the holy one blessed be he.
Nassau faces $77 million cash deficit, county comptroller says
Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos on June 12, 2013. (Credit: Howard Schnapp)
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Maragos also said in his midyear budget report, required by the county charter, that the difference between recurring revenues and recurring expenses -- the structural budget gap -- will increase to $242 million by the close of this year, after dropping to $99 million last year.
Maragos said fellow Republican County Executive Edward Mangano and the county's financial control board, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, must take "immediate steps" to close the deficit to "avoid the unpleasant consequences that will arise from our projections, should they be allowed to materialize."
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Tim Sullivan, Mangano's deputy county executive for finance, said the administration already has submitted a plan to NIFA to reduce overtime spending through "management initiatives" and by cutting funds budgeted for supplies, equipment and contractual expenses.
Sullivan said the county has asked for proposals from an independent economic consultant to review and report on the sales tax data by Sept. 5. The administration had questioned the accuracy of the state's allocation of sales tax revenues, after Nassau's collections dropped by 9 percent through June compared with the same period last year.
The county charter requires Mangano to submit his proposed 2015 budget on Sept. 15.
Maragos projects that police overtime will cost $67.4 million this year compared to $50 million budgeted. He also predicts a $90 million shortfall in sales tax revenues, which he said reflects slower economic activity after a surge in spending after superstorm Sandy in 2012, and a shift to online shopping.
Sullivan is projecting a $51 million sales tax shortfall but says changes in police contracts that restrict the use of leave time, along with the hiring of new police officers at a lower pay scale, will slow the growth in overtime.
NIFA recently lifted a three-year wage freeze on four of the county's five major unions after they negotiated new contracts that the administration and labor leaders said will save tens of millions of dollars in future years. NIFA is expected to approve a new deal for county correction officers next month.
NIFA chairman Jon Kaiman had asked Nassau to develop new revenues to cover immediate costs projected at about $130 million over four years.
Sullivan, in a memo to NIFA, said some of those initiatives, such as increased fees and new speed cameras in school zones, will help close this year's projected deficit.
The county also plans to borrow to pay $25 million in employee termination costs and $75 million in tax refunds before a new commercial refund system takes effect in 2017. He predicts the county will end this year with a $10 million cash surplus.
Kaiman could not be reached for comment.
NIFA member Chris Wright, who warned that the new union deals would cost more than anticipated, called Maragos' projected $76.9 million cash deficit "unfortunate, but not surprising. It's exactly what was to be expected -- and was predicted by objective analysts -- when the county added substantially to its cost base in the face of declining revenues. That the county did so with NIFA's approval compounded the error."
Wright was the only NIFA board member to vote against the four union deals approved so far.
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Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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