Shortly before the September 10th Democratic Primary, Suozzi released a television ad wrought with patent inaccuracies. The ad is indicative of the way Suozzi ran the county -- with murky truths, fudged budget numbers and hiding the reality of his fiscal ruin.
“This historical revisionism is a sad example of a candidate who can’t tell fiction from reality. Suozzi is trying to pull the wool over voters’ eyes and flush away his record,” said Spokesman Galen Alexander. “Nassau’s Democratic voters deserve to hear the truth – after draining the county’s reserves Suozzi moved on to pawning county assets, racking up charges on the county credit card and ignoring his taxpayer-funded job while running for the next political office.”
Nassau’s Democratic voters deserve to hear to truth on Suozzi’s revisionism. A breakdown of Suozzi’s ad follows.
Claim: “A fiscal sinkhole. By 2001, Tom Gulotta had Nassau billions in debt, and Albany was taking over.”
Truth:
Suozzi came into office under a financial control board, left under a financial control board and destroyed county finances between.
County debt soared under Suozzi. By the time Suozzi left office in 2009 he increased county debt by $449.5 million.
Claim: “We had to make drastic changes.”
Truth:
Suozzi hiked taxes a drastic 23% and gave himself and his buddies massive raises.
Suozzi repeatedly created budgets based on unrealistic growth assumptions.
Claim: “Tom Suozzi had a plan, and helped rescue Nassau from the brink of bankruptcy, cut the county workforce, and streamlined the bureaucracy while also balancing the budget.”
Truth:
Suozzi created a $123.8 million structural gap in the Nassau budget by 2008 after inheriting a structural surplus of $12.5 million in 2001.
The Nassau County Interim Finance Authority repeatedly cited unsustainable financial practices. According a May 2009 NIFA report: “NIFA’s assessment [was] that the FY 2008 surplus included the use of a significant amount of non-recurring revenues and bond proceeds as operating income, thereby contributing to a large and growing structural deficit.”
After Suozzi enacted his plan a major credit rating agency gave Nassau a “negative outlook.”
Suozzi handed out over a hundred million dollars in county contracts to campaign contributors.
Claim: “We reduced the borrowing, and we cut the debt.”
Truth:
County debt soared under Suozzi. By the time Suozzi left office in 2009 he managed to increase county debt by $449.5 million.
Suozzi created a $123.8 million structural gap in the Nassau budget by 2008 after inheriting a structural surplus of $12.5 million in 2001.
Claim: “Thirteen bond upgrades, from the ‘Wall Street toilet’ to A ratings.”
Truth:
Suozzi created a $123.8 million structural gap in the Nassau budget by 2008 after inheriting a structural surplus of $12.5 million in 2001.
After Suozzi enacted his plan a major credit rating agency gave Nassau a “negative outlook.”
Claim: “Now with all the new borrowing, and the new debt, we’re headed towards another fiscal sinkhole. And our kids just can’t afford that.”
Truth:
Suozzi’s borrowing and fiscal shell games created mountains of debt leaving Nassau County the most indebted county in all of New York state, excluding NYC, by a huge margin.