How much money would Nassau OTB, a public benefit corporation, have made for Nassau County and how much money would Nassau OTB employees have had the opportunity to make, if Nassau OTB, a public benefit corporation was open every day of the year that tracks were /are running that bettors want to bet and some workers may want to work on those days. Workers who do not wish to work have a sacrosanct right to take vacation.
robbing banks, a good honest day's work?
Nassau Comptroller George Maragos
urged all fellow elected county officials to cap pay raises to their
appointees at a maximum 8 percent, as the county attorney warned that
retroactive pay hikes for nonunion employees are unconstitutional.
Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
Joye Brown has been a columnist for Newsday since 2006. She joined the newspaper in 1983 and has ...
There's a memo from outside counsel floating around Nassau that says
retroactive raises to political appointees violate the state
constitution.
What's interesting is that county officials initially said the document did not exist. Actually, to be fair, officials said a legal decision on retroactive raises did not exist. And, OK, so there's no decision.
StoryMaragos: Cap appointees' pay hikes at 8% DataNassau pay raises DataSearch Nassau salaries
But there is a memo.
And it notes a New York State comptroller's office finding
that retroactive pay increases to nonunion public officials violate the
state constitution's ban on gifts of public money.That ought to be enough for County Executive Edward Mangano to block raises for Republican and Democratic elections board commissioners, rather than letting them go into effect without his signature.
Those increases weigh in at a whopping 31 percent, with salary hikes from $128,000 to $168,000. In addition, county lawmakers, who approved the increases on Nov. 17, made them retroactive to July -- which is before a state control board lifted a wage freeze on Nassau's nonunion employees.
As it is, residents are bristling at revenue-grabbing school-zone speed cameras and an upcoming 3.4 percent increase in the county portion of the property tax.
These generous raises will generate even more heat -- and to think, there probably are other raises for Nassau's political employees to come.
On Nov. 21, George Maragos, the county comptroller, sent out his own memo to fellow elected officials, saying that nonunion increases ought to be held to 8 percent.
Some officials, according to a Newsday report, suggested that the Maragos memo went out as a reaction to a request by outgoing District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who is going to Congress, to give large retroactive raises to attorneys in her office -- which her spokesman denied.
It's yet to be determined whether other elected officials, including Democrats and Republicans in the legislature or the county clerk's office, also will give big raises to their political appointees.
Or whether those raises also would be retroactive.
Not 8.
And certainly not 31 percent.
One more:
Overall, salaries for Nassau employees are slated to increase by $39.7 million next year -- which is more than the $31 million the county will receive from the property tax increase.
And that they will be paying for increases for election commissioners going forward -- as well as backward to July.
What does the state control board overseeing Nassau finances make of this? Jon Kaiman, chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, said NIFA would leave those decisions to county officials rather than weighing in itself.
But wait.
Let's go back to the memo from the outside counsel to County Attorney Carnell Foskey -- which concluded that "retroactive wage increases to elected officials, public officers, department heads and commissioners are not permissible."
That seems clear.
Doesn't it?
HI-
Thanks for
the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy,
if you give me a mailing address.
Claude
Solnik
(631)
913-4244
Long
Island
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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.
HI-
Thanks for
the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy,
if you give me a mailing address.
Claude
Solnik
(631)
913-4244
Long
Island
Business News
2150
Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
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.
Legislation would strengthen state OTB corporations
(Page 3 of 4)
From 1997 to 2003, OTB corporations made dark-day payments to
regional harness tracks, but in 2004 the New York City OTB stopped
making those payments on the grounds that the law required the tracks,
not OTBs, to make such payments to one another. A0602 would ensure that
OTB corporations are able to keep all the revenue they receive from
broadcasting out-of-state races.
Jackson Leeds, a Baldwin resident who has been a cashier at the Nassau OTB Corporation in Franklin Square for six years, said the Franklin Square OTB is one of the most profitable branch locations in the county. Leeds, who has supported Ra’s legislation ever since Barra introduced it, said it is a “no-brainer,” especially given the county’s current economic difficulties.
“This is the simplest of simple questions, in my mind,” Leeds said. “You’re able to purchase a Powerball ticket 365 days a year, and therefore you should be able to bet on horses 365 days a year.”
Leeds said that Ra’s legislation would help bolster Franklin Square’s OTB Corporation as well as others, including Belmont Park in Elmont.
The New York Racing Association, which operates Belmont Park, declined to comment on the legislation. Ra said he would be speaking with NYRA about the legislation. “I would be [open] to any tweaks that they think would benefit them,” he said. “Any additional dollars we can get for Belmont is an important thing because those are dollars that will hopefully help jobs that are there, and hopefully help jobs grow.”
On March 2, Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) introduced independent legislation to allow off-track betting to take place on Palm Sunday. Ra said he is currently working on obtaining co-sponsorship in the Assembly for his legislation, and would be willing to work with any legislators on getting the bills passed. Although Barra’s legislation was heavily co-sponsored in the 2009-10 session, it was held for consideration in the Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee, and didn’t pass out of the Assembly before the session ended.
Ra’s bills have been referred to the Racing and Wagering Committee, and are currently under consideration by the committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, of Mt. Vernon.
Jackson Leeds, a Baldwin resident who has been a cashier at the Nassau OTB Corporation in Franklin Square for six years, said the Franklin Square OTB is one of the most profitable branch locations in the county. Leeds, who has supported Ra’s legislation ever since Barra introduced it, said it is a “no-brainer,” especially given the county’s current economic difficulties.
“This is the simplest of simple questions, in my mind,” Leeds said. “You’re able to purchase a Powerball ticket 365 days a year, and therefore you should be able to bet on horses 365 days a year.”
Leeds said that Ra’s legislation would help bolster Franklin Square’s OTB Corporation as well as others, including Belmont Park in Elmont.
The New York Racing Association, which operates Belmont Park, declined to comment on the legislation. Ra said he would be speaking with NYRA about the legislation. “I would be [open] to any tweaks that they think would benefit them,” he said. “Any additional dollars we can get for Belmont is an important thing because those are dollars that will hopefully help jobs that are there, and hopefully help jobs grow.”
On March 2, Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) introduced independent legislation to allow off-track betting to take place on Palm Sunday. Ra said he is currently working on obtaining co-sponsorship in the Assembly for his legislation, and would be willing to work with any legislators on getting the bills passed. Although Barra’s legislation was heavily co-sponsored in the 2009-10 session, it was held for consideration in the Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee, and didn’t pass out of the Assembly before the session ended.
Ra’s bills have been referred to the Racing and Wagering Committee, and are currently under consideration by the committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, of Mt. Vernon.
March 29, 2011
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Legislation would strengthen state OTB corporations
Assemblyman Ed Ra introduced three bills to revitalize horse racing
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Assemblyman Ed Ra recently introduced three bills that would help
state off-track betting corporations, including racetracks, keep more of
the money that is spent on their premises and create more business for
them. Ra’s legislation reintroduces three bills offered by Assemblyman
Bob Barra (R-Lynbrook) in the 2009-10 legislative session.
“All of New York state’s regional off-track betting corporations are currently in financial distress, despite the fact that they all have acted to reduce inefficiencies and streamline operations,” Ra said. “This result is due in large part to the increased burden of statutory distribution payouts that have been imposed upon them. These increased payments have resulted in not only endangering the economic viability of the regional corporations, but also in decreased payments to their stakeholders — municipal governments.”
Ra added that due to the new revenue stream created by the installation of video lottery terminals at racetracks around the state, there is now an opportunity to revitalize and restructure racing in New York — which his legislation aims to do.
One of Ra’s bills, A06020, would allow parimutuel, or off-track, betting to take place on Palm Sunday. Currently, state law does not permit off-track betting — which allows bets of the same type to be placed together in a pool — on Palm Sunday, Easter or Christmas. Ra said that the bill would not mandate that tracks or OTB corporations allow betting on Palm Sunday, but would give them the option of operating that day.
The bill would not, however, extend to Christmas or Easter, he said, because he believes those days are major holidays, and require the prohibition of betting. More people go out of state on Palm Sunday than on Christmas or Easter to place bets, he added. “There are so many places where people can bet now, online and elsewhere,” Ra said.
“All of New York state’s regional off-track betting corporations are currently in financial distress, despite the fact that they all have acted to reduce inefficiencies and streamline operations,” Ra said. “This result is due in large part to the increased burden of statutory distribution payouts that have been imposed upon them. These increased payments have resulted in not only endangering the economic viability of the regional corporations, but also in decreased payments to their stakeholders — municipal governments.”
Ra added that due to the new revenue stream created by the installation of video lottery terminals at racetracks around the state, there is now an opportunity to revitalize and restructure racing in New York — which his legislation aims to do.
One of Ra’s bills, A06020, would allow parimutuel, or off-track, betting to take place on Palm Sunday. Currently, state law does not permit off-track betting — which allows bets of the same type to be placed together in a pool — on Palm Sunday, Easter or Christmas. Ra said that the bill would not mandate that tracks or OTB corporations allow betting on Palm Sunday, but would give them the option of operating that day.
The bill would not, however, extend to Christmas or Easter, he said, because he believes those days are major holidays, and require the prohibition of betting. More people go out of state on Palm Sunday than on Christmas or Easter to place bets, he added. “There are so many places where people can bet now, online and elsewhere,” Ra said.
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