The Tax Revolt Party supports school zone cameras to help subsidize Nassau OTB, a public benefit corporation, when it closes so Andrew Cuomo may go to church with Joseph Mondello.
The Tax Revolt branding, shown on a
document on Nov. 11, 2009, was created in that year to boost Edward
Mangano's unlikely, but ultimately successful, county executive bid.
Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
Nassau County Republicans have found success in branding themselves as
"Tax Revolt" candidates, both on ballot lines and in the party's
ubiquitous campaign signs posted each fall.
But the value of the label -- created in 2009 to boost
Edward Mangano's unlikely, but ultimately successful, county executive
bid -- now faces its first real test. In recent months, Nassau's top
elected leaders, including Mangano, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John
Venditto and Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, raised property
taxes to help plug budget holes.Veering from the anti-tax platform that contributed to his overwhelming re-election in 2013, Mangano in September proposed a 3.4 percent property tax hike in his 2015 county budget to raise $31 million as an offset to plummeting sales tax revenues. Early this month, Mangano vetoed the county legislature's removal of the increase.
In Hempstead, Murray and the GOP-led town board adopted a budget in October that cuts total spending, but raises town property taxes by 3.3 percent.
And last week, Venditto and his board passed an unannounced 8.8 percent property tax hike -- after adopting an increase of the same amount for 2014. The 2015 town spending plan debated at a previous public hearing had no tax increase.
Political experts say the recent actions of those local GOP standard-bearers could have stripped the "Tax Revolt" tag of some of its authenticity.
"After this, people may recognize that the designation really doesn't mean that much," said Stanley Klein, a political-science professor at LIU Post and a Suffolk GOP committeeman. "It may no longer be as valuable."
"One vote, to meet the fiscal realities of one budget, does not negate years of sound, conservative fiscal stewardship," he said.
Party line's strong start
The "Tax Revolt" party was founded in 2009, when Mangano, then a Nassau County legislator, was challenging two-term Democratic County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who had twice raised property taxes and supported a new home energy tax. Mangano had only the Republican line, while Suozzi had the Democratic, Independence and Working Families party lines.
Another candidate, Steven Hansen, a deputy county attorney under Suozzi, had the Conservative Party endorsement.
Mangano submitted nearly four times the required 1,500 petition signatures to create an independent party line. He ended up with 5,900 votes on the new "Tax Revolt" line as he upset Suozzi by merely 386 votes.
Since then, nearly all Nassau GOP members, including U.S. Congress, State Senate, town supervisor, town board and county legislature candidates, have been "Tax Revolt" designees, either with a dedicated ballot line or with the words under their names on the Republican line.
In 2013, with Mangano running for re-election against Suozzi, Mondello summed up the party's campaign strategy by saying, "It's all about taxes, taxes, taxes. People don't want to pay any more money to government . . . Our party is telling people it's not going to happen."
Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs accused Republicans of "hypocritical governing," saying the "Tax Revolt" designation represented the "core" of how GOP candidates "convinced people to vote for them, and the people, I imagine, would have to feel hoodwinked."
David Birdsell, dean of the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College in Manhattan, said such third-party ballot lines are "a way for single-interest groups to indicate what's important to them -- but I'm not sure they're all that meaningful."
Still, Birdsell said a shift on an issue that is so clearly designated under a candidate's name can "make it easy for a primary challenger to hang you out to dry."
Venditto representatives did not respond to requests for comment, but Murray and Mangano aides said voters will recognize their larger accomplishments.
Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin said all of the county executive's prior budgets held the line on property taxes. Nevin added that homeowners earning less than $500,000 a year would receive a rebate for the amount of the 2015 county property tax increase under a state program.
"County Executive Mangano has led the taxpayer revolt by freezing property taxes for those earning under $500,000 annually for six straight years, while also having eliminated the county energy tax on electricity, natural gas and oil bills," Nevin said.
Mangano isn't up for re-election until 2017, but Murray and Venditto would be on the ballot again next year, along with the GOP town board members who supported their budgets.
OPEN ON 1ST PALM SUNDAY, OTB RAKES IN $2M - NY ...
www.nydailynews.com/.../open-1st-palm-sunday-otb-rakes-2m-...
Apr 14, 2003 - BY Jerry Bossert ... Betting made history yesterday, taking bets on Palm Sunday. ... Casey also said NYCOTB may open on Easter Sunday.
Daily News
Off Track Betting to push for Palm Sunday opening
www.saratogian.com/.../off-track-betting-to-push-for-pal...
Jan 23, 2009 - SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Off Track Betting officials say the plan to ... on Palm Sunday," Catskill Regional OTB President Donald Groth said.
The Saratogian
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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.
Crist: New York restrictions defy belief | Daily Racing Form
Nov 25, 2011 - DRF Login Loading. ... By Steven Crist · Print · Email. It's only 126 days until Palm Sunday and seven more until Easter, more than enough time ...
A Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Suffolk Regional ...
www.suffolkotb.com/pages/board_minutes/2012/may2012.pdfMay 24, 2012 - APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ... There were 13 dark days this April, including Palm Sunday and Easter ... The comparison of OTB Regions shows that overall statewide handle was down by.[PDF]Download PDF - Suffolk OTB
www.suffolkotb.com/pages/board_minutes/2013/may2013.pdfMay 23, 2013 - APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ... from 2012, primarily due to the fact that Palm Sunday and Easter fell in March ...
Suffolk red-light camera revenue jumps nearly ... - Newsday
www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk-red-light-camera-reven...
2 days ago - Revenue from Suffolk County's red-light camera program jumped nearly 80 ... By DAVID M. SCHWARTZ david.schwartz@newsday.com
Newsday
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