Nassau County Executive Laura Curran's 2018 Budget Includes Millions In New Or Increased Fees
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Wealthy Nassau County is not in the money any more.
County Executive Laura Curran's 2018 budget proposal includes millions in new or increased fees.
Under the proposal, traffic and parking fees will increase 2 percent to $95. The county expects that alone to generate $1.4 million in new revenue, mostly from red-light cameras. In addition, the county will seek out vehicles of motorists with moving violations to be booted and towed, which is expected to generate $1 million.
Other fees mentioned in the proposal:
- Fees for parking illegally on county property will increase to $150 from $100
- Contractors will have to renew their $600 home improvement license annually instead of every other year
- Fees on golf cart rentals and driving range buckets will go up by $1. Fees on rifle range use will increase 50 cents. All totaled, various summer recreational fee hikes are expected to generate $175,000
- A distracted driver education program will require a $100 fee and is expected to generate $200,000 per year
- People who don't pay judgments after receiving summonses will be hit with an additional $75 fee
When the county executive took over in January, she was unexpectedly saddled with a costly court judgement for two men exonerated of a past crime and another multi-million dollar directive from the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.
"We had the $18 million that we had to cut according to NIFA, we were hit with a $45 million judgement – unprecedented, so we are in a fiscal crisis and have to make tough choices," Curran said.
The new fees for parking and traffic violations have to be approved by the county Legislature. Republicans hold the majority and say they will oppose them.
"The feeling on both sides of the aisle was that we are not going back to the fees again. They're already too high," Majority Leader Richard Nicolello said. "Her proposal, for the most part, is not going to go anywhere."
Just last week, Nassau County lawmakers pushed back on a proposal to have nonprofit little leagues, senior groups and some charity fees pay a fee for field use.