County will have to revisit energy tax

Surprise, surprise! It’s an election year, and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who is up for re-election, is promising not to raise property taxes in 2010.

We’re all, of course, grateful that Suozzi has kept this year’s budget increase low — a $13 million spending hike in a $2.6 billion budget. He’s done that by reducing the work force, winning labor concessions and seeking efficiencies where and when possible. The county has 1,000 fewer employees now than when Suozzi took office in 2002. At the same time, he has accomplished big projects like merging disparate offices of the Department of Social Services under one roof, streamlining services and saving money.

Still, Suozzi has raised taxes this year. In June, property owners were hit with a 2.5 percent tax on oil, propane, natural gas, electric power and firewood. The tax is expected to bring in $18 million before year’s end, and another $40 million in 2010.

By comparison, Suozzi’s 3.9 percent property tax increase in this year’s budget brought in $30 million. And let’s not forget that he raised property taxes 19.4 percent in a single year shortly after he took office, before freezing them for the next five years.

Suozzi would also now like to tax cigarettes, to raise another $16 million. A bill that would permit the county to collect the tax is pending in the state Legislature.

You’ll hear a great deal of criticism from Suozzi’s Republican detractors in the coming weeks because he implemented the energy tax. We’re here to say that it was a necessary evil.

This year, the county is facing a 6 to 8 percent decrease in sales tax revenues, which represent 40 percent of the county budget. Nassau has to make up that money one way or another, or reduce services. And at this point, given Suozzi’s penchant for rooting out inefficiency, there simply appear to be few, if any, places from which to cut.

Still, we believe that Suozzi should listen closely to GOP criticism of the energy tax and consider when it should sunset. The tax, after all, was created with a specific purpose in mind — filling a budget gap caused by the downturn in sales tax receipts. The drop was caused primarily by slumps in the housing and automobile sectors, which are expected to recover when the country comes out of the Great Recession.

When that happens, Nassau County should revisit whether the home energy tax is still needed. We expect that it will not be.

Otherwise, we only offer praise for Suozzi’s budget plan, which continues to keep expenses low and respect taxpayers’ bottom line.