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headoverheels
s'il vous plaît
Member since 6/07 42079 total posts
Name:
LB
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Nassau residents
Mangano wants to order unions to cut $60 million from their payroll. The county has approximately 8000 union employees. This is to avoid a significant increase in property taxes to balance the budget.
Fair or not fair?
ETA: To put it in perspective, that would mean that the average union employee's salary would be reduced by $7500 a year.
Message edited 9/17/2010 10:53:21 PM.
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Posted 9/17/10 9:21 PM  |
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Long Island Weddings
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beautyq115
New Year!
Member since 5/05 13729 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: Nassau residents
I don't work in Nassau but I live in Nassau and my taxes are out of control and something needs to be done.
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| Posted 9/17/10 9:37 PM |
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maybesoon
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 5981 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
I don't think ppl can afford much more when it comes to property taxes, so something drastic needs to be done. If this will keep taxes from going up, then so be it
Message edited 9/17/2010 9:46:49 PM.
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| Posted 9/17/10 9:46 PM |
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Salason
♥
Member since 6/05 9878 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
Something's got to give and if this is it, then it is what it is...
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| Posted 9/17/10 10:00 PM |
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ChrisDee
My Girls
Member since 11/06 9543 total posts
Name:
Christine
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Re: Nassau residents
It's a sign of the times and Life is not fair sometimes IMO
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| Posted 9/18/10 12:18 AM |
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Mommy2Boys
My Boys!!!!
Member since 6/06 14437 total posts
Name:
C
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Re: Nassau residents
Do I think the average worker should have to take a pay cut? No but we have to consider that county employees also get medical benefits and pensions which alot of other people need to pay for and contribute to out of their paychecks.
Taxes our OUT of control. Things need to change and not everyone is going to like it.
The next thing they should do is follow suit with the new NYPD contracts and the Suffolk and Nassau PD pensions should be based solely on base salary NOT inclusive of OT. That would save our counties tons of $$$. But this will never happen. For some reason our county govt's are scared of the police unions and they get handed whatever they want on a silver platter.
This is what happens...people get greedy and in the end it blows up. Just like the LIRR. The LIRR employees have been scamming the system for years. 95% of their employees are out on disability making pensions of $100k+ a year (I know I have two uncles who are retired on disability through the LIRR). Guess what? They can't afford to pay pensions anymore but people are paying more and services are getting cut.
ETA: Another thing is Nassau County basically screwed it's residents with the tax assessments they did a couple of years ago. They assessed everyone's house for about 17% lower in addition to the 6% it had already declined because of the market. My house, for example, the county says is worth literally $200k less than what I paid for it in 2006. They have now made it virtually impossible for residents to grieve their property taxes. So while everyone's houses have declined dramatically, we'll still be paying the same taxes, probably more 
Message edited 9/18/2010 12:45:09 AM.
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| Posted 9/18/10 12:29 AM |
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ave1024
I Took The Wrong Road
Member since 12/07 6153 total posts
Name:
That Led To The Wrong Tendencies
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Re: Nassau residents
Im in favor. Pay cuts are a factor of life. Unions shouldn't be immune.
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| Posted 9/18/10 3:15 AM |
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CathyB
Member since 5/05 19403 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
I can see both sides. Up until very recently one of my cousins was an attorney for the county, and several of my brother's friends are NCPD, so the thought of salary cuts isn't pleasant.
But on the flip side, taxes are so high something needs to be done. I personally think that if they would combine school districts so that every town doesn't have a separate administration it would help ease the tax burden tremendously. But I don't see voters approving that anytime soon since property values can vary by tens of thousands from one block to the next just based on the reputation of the current school districts.
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| Posted 9/18/10 9:01 AM |
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LadyBug1209
Mommy to FOUR little men!
Member since 8/08 9655 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by beautyq115
I don't work in Nassau but I live in Nassau and my taxes are out of control and something needs to be done.
Ditto!
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| Posted 9/18/10 9:17 AM |
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KLSbear
LIF Adult
Member since 1/06 1908 total posts
Name:
Karen
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by headoverheels
Mangano wants to order unions to cut $60 million from their payroll. The county has approximately 8000 union employees. This is to avoid a significant increase in property taxes to balance the budget.
Fair or not fair?
ETA: To put it in perspective, that would mean that the average union employee's salary would be reduced by $7500 a year.
Lots of private company employees took that hit in 2008 and 2009 and are still on reduced salaries while expenses keep going up. It's time for unions to take a hit too - the well is dry.
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| Posted 9/18/10 9:31 AM |
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Goldi0218
My miracles!
Member since 12/05 23902 total posts
Name:
Leslie
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by Maria31
Posted by beautyq115
I don't work in Nassau but I live in Nassau and my taxes are out of control and something needs to be done.
Ditto!
TRITTO!
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| Posted 9/18/10 10:51 AM |
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Blu-ize
Plan B is Now Plan A
Member since 7/05 32475 total posts
Name:
Susan
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by KLSbear
Posted by headoverheels
Mangano wants to order unions to cut $60 million from their payroll. The county has approximately 8000 union employees. This is to avoid a significant increase in property taxes to balance the budget.
Fair or not fair?
ETA: To put it in perspective, that would mean that the average union employee's salary would be reduced by $7500 a year.
Lots of private company employees took that hit in 2008 and 2009 and are still on reduced salaries while expenses keep going up. It's time for unions to take a hit too - the well is dry.
Yep..if it came down to losing my job or taking a pay cut, the pay cut wins. Especially if it saved that many jobs.
My firm took pay cuts and we still had to lay off a ton.
Salaries will come back but there have to be some drastic measures. Our taxes are huge. People are moving off of LI.
Is it wonderful to take a pay cut? Nope, but it sure beats being unemployed.
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| Posted 9/18/10 10:56 AM |
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Katareen
5,000 Posts!
Member since 4/10 7180 total posts
Name:
Katherine
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Re: Nassau residents
I agree--something has to give. We're in the process of buying a new home and Nassau is looking more and more out of reach for us based on property taxes alone.
I took a paycut last year and it was a heck of a lot better than losing my job, or seeing my co-workers lose jobs they work just as hard at.
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| Posted 9/18/10 11:48 AM |
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computergirl
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 3118 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
I'm in favor of it. Downsizing and paycuts have become so commonplace in the private sector, there's no reason why government employees should be immune to these cuts, and certainly no reason why Nassau homeowners should pay to keep the govt employees protected. It s.u.c.ks but it's an unfortunate fact of life given the economy.
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| Posted 9/18/10 12:19 PM |
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Re: Nassau residents
I admit I'd be pi$$ed (obviously) if I was personally effected, but there could be worse things, such as layoffs like PP mentioned.
I also agree with whoever wrote about the part of benefits being re-evaluated.
I know things like health insurance can be super expensive and if you cut on cost towards that (i.e. say if you are married and your family is on your plan, you have to pay the majority), that could help.
It may be a lifestyle change for many, but something that many of us have lived with for awhile and made-do with.
ETA: It's a $144.00 pay-cut per week. If this was me I would just cut certain things out of my budget that I splurge on now.
Message edited 9/18/2010 12:27:38 PM.
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| Posted 9/18/10 12:23 PM |
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headoverheels
s'il vous plaît
Member since 6/07 42079 total posts
Name:
LB
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by mzsocialworker1
I also agree with whoever wrote about the part of benefits being re-evaluated.
I know things like health insurance can be super expensive and if you cut on cost towards that (i.e. say if you are married and your family is on your plan, you have to pay the majority), that could help.
It may be a lifestyle change for many, but something that many of us have lived with for awhile and made-do with.
This I don't agree with.
It's like that thread about teachers complaining after having all summer off.
So many people said, "Well if you wanted that you should have become a teacher."
Lots of people became union employees because they knew that this would be a HUGE benefit. I don't think it's right to take that away any more than I think it's right to make teachers work summers.
Would I like a paycut? No, of course not. But it's a heck of a lot better than being unemployed. And I say that even though I live in Suffolk County but work in Nassau - my family is in Nassau and I think that raising taxes is the worst solution at this point.
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| Posted 9/18/10 12:41 PM |
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Re: Nassau residents
I can see your point. I just threw healthcare out there as an example (this is a major issue with me because I work IN healthcare and have to pay my entire family plan pre-tax because the company won't cover it).
I hate to say it, but I think it's going to come to a day in our society where a lot of job sectors that were once "protected" and had better perks and benefits.............are going to be effected negatively as well.
Something has to give.........
I wonder if having the backing of a union would make it harder for these cuts to ever happen though......
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| Posted 9/18/10 12:57 PM |
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tourist
Member since 5/05 10425 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by headoverheels
Lots of people became union employees because they knew that this would be a HUGE benefit. I don't think it's right to take that away any more than I think it's right to make teachers work summers.
It happens all the time in non-union jobs though. When I took my job, we had free health, dental & life insurance. No employee contributions. That was a huge benefit for a 22 year old taking a very low salary job.
We also received Christmas bonuses &yearly raises.
We get NONE of that now & NO one said, hey, no fair, that's why I took this job. If we had said that,we might have been told, well, then go look somewhere else.
I think asking the unions to make cuts is fair, because I believe it can be done in other ways than an across the board $7,500/yr reduction.
Starting salaries for new hires can be lowered, raises can be reduced, benefits can be reduced, and any cuts to existing salaries can be done by percentages, so won't be as large of a cut for those making the lowest salaries.
Also, this # is probably just an ideal, and if they can meet somewhere in the middle, they will still be able to keep taxes done somewhat, if not completely.
I am not a Nassau resident, but my parents are. I am curious as to how people who own homes in Nassau AND work for the county feel about this.
Message edited 9/18/2010 2:11:11 PM.
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| Posted 9/18/10 2:08 PM |
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KittyGags
LIF Adult
Member since 7/09 5614 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by jellybean1420
Do I think the average worker should have to take a pay cut? No but we have to consider that county employees also get medical benefits and pensions which alot of other people need to pay for and contribute to out of their paychecks.
Taxes our OUT of control. Things need to change and not everyone is going to like it.
The next thing they should do is follow suit with the new NYPD contracts and the Suffolk and Nassau PD pensions should be based solely on base salary NOT inclusive of OT. That would save our counties tons of $$$. But this will never happen. For some reason our county govt's are scared of the police unions and they get handed whatever they want on a silver platter.
This is what happens...people get greedy and in the end it blows up. Just like the LIRR. The LIRR employees have been scamming the system for years. 95% of their employees are out on disability making pensions of $100k+ a year (I know I have two uncles who are retired on disability through the LIRR). Guess what? They can't afford to pay pensions anymore but people are paying more and services are getting cut.
ETA: Another thing is Nassau County basically screwed it's residents with the tax assessments they did a couple of years ago. They assessed everyone's house for about 17% lower in addition to the 6% it had already declined because of the market. My house, for example, the county says is worth literally $200k less than what I paid for it in 2006. They have now made it virtually impossible for residents to grieve their property taxes. So while everyone's houses have declined dramatically, we'll still be paying the same taxes, probably more
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| Posted 9/18/10 3:45 PM |
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Cookiegobbler
My little love bugs!!
Member since 9/05 5759 total posts
Name:
Nicole
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Re: Nassau residents
What about the average union families that already pay high taxes and struggle just by living in Nassau (I'm not talking about the executives... I mean your average union employee....how is it fair for them to lose significant wages? What about the fact that my DH is a union employee and due to this economy has been laid off and out of work in the past 3 years more than he has worked. If money was cut...how many families would not survive?!
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| Posted 9/18/10 4:40 PM |
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Mommy2Boys
My Boys!!!!
Member since 6/06 14437 total posts
Name:
C
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by Cookiegobbler
What about the average union families that already pay high taxes and struggle just by living in Nassau (I'm not talking about the executives... I mean your average union employee....how is it fair for them to lose significant wages? What about the fact that my DH is a union employee and due to this economy has been laid off and out of work in the past 3 years more than he has worked. If money was cut...how many families would not survive?!
 I know it sucks. My parents both worked for Verizon and were big into the union. They went on strike after strike to fight for better benefits.
That being said, and I hate to say it, in some ways I think the unions are partially responsible for this mess. I think this has been a LONG time coming. Teachers unions keep saying they want more, more, more so the taxpayers get slammed. LIRR union keeps saying they want more, more, more and now people can't afford to take the LIRR to work. Eventually it was going to come back and bite everyone in the ***.
People are tapped out. As much as the average "blue collar" worker wants their raises and benefits, the average "blue collar" home owner can't afford to pay for it.
Message edited 9/18/2010 5:19:25 PM.
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| Posted 9/18/10 5:17 PM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by jellybean1420
Teachers unions keep saying they want more, more, more so the taxpayers get slammed.
It always comes back to those money hungry teachers. 
FYI - I don't know much about the situation, but if this is the case, the union should put it up for a vote. Brentwood TEACHERS did this and they froze their salaries AND took a salary cut  to save 200 jobs this year.
Unions are not inflexible.
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| Posted 9/18/10 5:51 PM |
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luvmytwins
pretty princesses
Member since 7/09 1424 total posts
Name:
Nancy
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by KLSbear
Posted by headoverheels
Mangano wants to order unions to cut $60 million from their payroll. The county has approximately 8000 union employees. This is to avoid a significant increase in property taxes to balance the budget.
Fair or not fair?
ETA: To put it in perspective, that would mean that the average union employee's salary would be reduced by $7500 a year.
Lots of private company employees took that hit in 2008 and 2009 and are still on reduced salaries while expenses keep going up. It's time for unions to take a hit too - the well is dry.
ITA! I worked for a public company and didn't get a raise 1 year and only a 1% raise for 2 years because the economy.
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| Posted 9/18/10 6:39 PM |
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Bearcat
Love my little girls!!! <3
Member since 6/10 10818 total posts
Name:
E
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Re: Nassau residents
meh... my DH is Nassau PD. We were finally just able to buy a house here in Nassau because he finally reached a paygrade where we'd have enough monthly income, and I went on his health insurance, which saved a LOT of money that was coming out of my paycheck.
If he had to take a paycut, we'd likely have a hard time. Why? Because we count on the fact that his union contract has his salary all spelled out for the next X years and that it won't change.
Yes the taxes are high, but paycuts for certain employees are not truly fair. You're cutting the salary of a small sector of the working county residents to benefit ALL residents of the county.
Salary cuts are NOT the only way to save money on taxes. My DH had to work a certain number of days over th past few years FOR FREE to help mitigate tax increases. So to the PP who said that the police unions get everything handed to them on a silver platter, I assure you... that is NOT true, although let's face it - it's what Newsday would like us to believe.
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| Posted 9/18/10 10:51 PM |
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Katareen
5,000 Posts!
Member since 4/10 7180 total posts
Name:
Katherine
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Re: Nassau residents
Posted by Bearcat
meh... my DH is Nassau PD. We were finally just able to buy a house here in Nassau because he finally reached a paygrade where we'd have enough monthly income, and I went on his health insurance, which saved a LOT of money that was coming out of my paycheck.
If he had to take a paycut, we'd likely have a hard time. Why? Because we count on the fact that his union contract has his salary all spelled out for the next X years and that it won't change.
Yes the taxes are high, but paycuts for certain employees are not truly fair. You're cutting the salary of a small sector of the working county residents to benefit ALL residents of the county.
Salary cuts are NOT the only way to save money on taxes. My DH had to work a certain number of days over th past few years FOR FREE to help mitigate tax increases. So to the PP who said that the police unions get everything handed to them on a silver platter, I assure you... that is NOT true, although let's face it - it's what Newsday would like us to believe.
Why is it fair that I get a paycut but not fair if your DH gets one?
I'm paid by salary--as I'm sure many others on here are. So, for all the nights I've stayed at work until 8-9-10pm technically I'm working for free too.
I'm not trying to be sassy, but it doesn't make sense to me that its ok for some and not others. We counted on my salary too--and when it was cut we had to make do with my new salary.
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| Posted 9/18/10 10:57 PM |
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