Caught "betwixt and between" a proposed county budget he doesn't like and a campaign for state comptroller during which he's been portraying himself as "the taxpayer's watchdog," Nassau's Presiding Officer, Bruce Blakeman, is reportedly considering delaying adoption of that fiscal plan and with it, a significant tax increase.

The alleged reason for the delay is next Tuesday's general election, in which Blakeman is pitted against popular Democratic incumbent H. Carl McCall.

Though the county charter mandates that the legislature adopt a budget by the end of October, the body's presiding officer apparently feels that the budget as proposed by County Executive Thomas S. Gulotta leaves him almost no alternative but to raise taxes, however to do so would severely injure him in his home base just days before voters go to the polls.

Since receiving the Gulotta budget proposal in September, county legislators have expressed concern over several projected revenues for the upcoming fiscal year. Most troublesome of all, it's said, is the proposal to sell the Nassau County Medical Center to a public benefits corporation.

The price tag for that sale was set by Gulotta at $96 million. The problem, said one lawmaker, speaking on background, "is that for a quick infusion of cash -- money we need to stem a very real budget deficit -- we also acquire years of debt."

The bulk of that debt comes in the form of ongoing subsidies to the new public benefits corporation, to the tune of $40 million this year, and unspecified amounts -- estimated to be in the ballpark of $40 to $50 million a year -- well into the future.

In addition, while the county is selling its hospital facilities, it's hanging on to the hospital's existing debt, turning the proceeds garnered from the intergovernmental sale -- some $6.5 million in funds from the state -- over to the public benefits corporation, and holding the PBC harmless for any unreimbursed care.

What that means is that if a deadbeat scoffs at paying his bill, the county will be liable to pay it. In addition, the county has agreed to pay the public benefits corporation, which is headed by Eric Rosenblum, the new Republican executive leader for North Levittown, the difference between industry standard and the union negotiated contract for new employees.

While the legislators have been considering ways to grapple with that situation, they've also been focusing their attention on a reported $144 million in other "one shot" revenues included in the budget, things like anticipated land sales and such that may or may not actually occur.

Hoping to head off a future financial catastrophe, legislators this week were considering raising taxes in three areas -- the police district fund, the fire district tax, and the taxes that support county park facilities.

"It's actually a smart thing to do in the long run," said one of the county's financial analysts. "Right now, we take money from the general fund and use it to subsidize other budgetary funds. It's much better to fund these things directly.

"The problem for Blakeman, though, is that good government can sometimes prove to be very bad politics."

Clearly feeling the pressure of the election, Blakeman has reportedly had his budget people at the legislature prepare not an overall budget fix, but a series of budget "scenarios" from which he can choose a course of action.

"The sticking point is, there just isn't a scenario that doesn't include raising taxes," a prominent legislator said on background. "It's got to be done."

To temporarily put off adopting a county budget until after the election would violate the county charter and put the county on an extingency budget, but there are no penalties that can be imposed against the legislature for doing so.

Still, with the legislature's budget hearing scheduled as this newspaper goes to press, even County Republican Chairman Joseph N. Mondello is said to have told Republican lawmakers to "do the right thing" in regard to the budget.

"There just aren't any options," another legislator said. "If we adopt the budget this week, taxes will be raised before the election. That's it. If Blakeman stops the clock... well.. then he'll be roundly criticized for showing a lack of leadership."