Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, in his seventh State of the County address on March 11, called for the consolidation of certain school services, such as attorneys, accounting and audit departments.

Suozzi said his administration has balanced the budget each year since 2002, created multimillion dollar surpluses and was rewarded with the highest bond ratings in 15 years. He said this was accomplished while holding the line on taxes five years in a row. In fact, he stated, the county's portion of the average Nassau County property tax bill has decreased from 22.7 percent to 17.5 percent - 5 percent less than the day he took office.

One year ago, in Suozzi's sixth State of the County Address, he called for a blueprint that would map out how to consolidate some 620 separate taxing authorities that operate within Nassau - with little or no oversight. The separate districts, with their own staff and duplication of responsibilities, cost county residents millions each year in unnecessary taxes, Suozzi said.

One of the largest contributors to property taxes in Nassau County is the school system. Suozzi stated that on average, school taxes have gone up 7 percent every year for the last five years. While budgets are voted upon, most budgets don't get voted down. He said, "Few people show up for school budget votes and even when taxpayers vote against their local school budgets, their taxes don't go down. The only things that go down are student activities like athletic teams, band practices and after-school meetings."

Suozzi announced his new initiative and stated that it would entail creating a countywide office of shared school services that will centralize back office operations for the county's 56 school districts. "I am not proposing any county involvement in the educational product, but rather a focus on back-office functions. This marks the first time a county or county executive is involved in an effort of this magnitude to reduce school expenses," said Suozzi.

Attending the address was Superintendent James Parla, president of the Nassau Council of School Superintendents, representing the school superintendents of all Nassau County.

"After several months of in depth analysis I have spoken with school superintendents and they have committed to work with me," stated Suozzi, "I have also spoken with the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association and they have also committed to join the team."

Suozzi proposed consolidating back room services and creating:

• One countywide school attorney's office;

• One countywide accounting and audit department;

• One countywide health insurance pool and

• One countywide shared operation.

In addition, he suggested creating:

• Countywide energy, purchasing and construction operations;

• Countywide leverage with the bus companies, and the companies that sell our schools food, copiers and computers.

By consolidating these services, Suozzi said it will be cheaper and develop greater expertise while creating an environment to prevent waste and abuse.

Suozzi stated, "We will not delay. My team, the superintendents and the school boards will meet together and make a recommendation to the state within 60 days to give us the statutory authority to create these functions so that it will be in place for the beginning of the 2009 school budgets."

After calling for new consolidation measures, Suozzi stated that there has been much progress in the last year. Since last year's address, the county has consolidated some of its sewer districts and now 92 percent of all sewage in Nassau is handled by one government agency - the county. "We need to make it 100 percent. It's better for the environment, it will result in better service and it is cheaper," said Suozzi.

The county has also transferred 9 parks and 27 miles of roads to the Town of North Hempstead. Suozzi called for additional transfers, stating "We should enter into similar arrangements with the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay. County residents can still use all of these facilities, the Towns will have more access to recreational facilities, but more important, the parks and roads are getting better and it saves money."

On the state level, Suozzi discussed his collaboration with State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on legislation he will introduce in Albany later this month that requires all special districts and governments provide their budgets on the Internet to provide greater transparency and accountability. Further, Suozzi will present legislation this spring to dramatically reduce the number of election days in Nassau to two dates - Election Day in November and the third Tuesday in May when the school budget votes are held.

Suozzi also introduced another initiative to combat property taxes - expanding Nassau's tax base through Economic development. The three main components to economic development outlined by the county executive are: 1) creating "cool" downtowns to attract young people and empty nesters, 2) mega projects to jumpstart the economy, breathe life into "new suburbia" and generate new high skill, high tech jobs and 3) improve and market the great attractions that exist here in Nassau already.

"We're very proud of our accomplishments. But we're not resting on them. We're not satisfied. We're not finished. And we never will be finished until we make our own future what we want it to be. As Theodore Roosevelt said, 'big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.' Not that I'm minimizing what we've done, but you ain't seen nothin' yet," affirmed Suozzi.

For the seventh consecutive year, Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R.-Massapequa) delivered the Republican Party's response to the county executive's speech.

"We believe, as Republicans, that spending has spiraled out of control in this county and, like your household, we cannot spend more than we take in and yet, we find that the county executive plans to raise taxes at least 3.9 percent to cover the deficit as projected by the county comptroller," Schmitt said.

The Minority Leader also claimed that Suozzi is "quietly seeking state approval to borrow over $1.9 billion in order to refinance county debt." The plan, Schmitt added, is "too dangerous, and the extra costs associated are too steep to make it a fiscally prudent transaction."

In addition, Schmitt called for the reassessment of residential properties to be slowed down, while also hoping that proposed consolidation projects includes parks, roads, beaches, highways, and recreational programs. Finally, Schmitt called on the county executive to "be creative" and "find ways to reduce spending, and reduce property taxes" and to also find "new and fresh ideas for reducing the level of crime and gang violence" in Nassau County.

"He [the county executive] needs to roll up his sleeves, take out his calculator and start cutting some of the $800 million of new spending he has initiated over the past six years," Schmitt concluded.