Denenberg, Jones vie for 19th District — again

Nassau County Legislator David Denenbeg, a Democrat from Merrick, and Dr. Fred Jones, a Merrick chiropractor running on the Republican ticket, first battled for the 19th Legislative District seat in 2009. Now, they’re at it again.

Jones says he’s had enough of Nassau’s high property taxes, while Denenberg, who has served in the Legislature since 1999, says County Executive Ed Mangano, who was swept into office in November 2009, and the Republican majority in the Legislature are bankrupting the county, noting that Nassau now faces a $300 million deficit.

The Herald asked Denenberg and Mangano for their responses to three questions to see where they stand on the issues in this year’s elections. The questions and their answers follow below:

Herald: Nassau County is facing a $300 million deficit. What specific steps should the county take to fill that budget gap?

Denenberg: Ten years of balanced budgets and 13 bond-rating increases gave way to a $300 million deficit in less than two years. Pass my assessment reform bill, which the [Legislature’s] presiding officer refuses to calendar. It requires residential and commercial assessments to be substantively reviewed by the Assessment Review Commission by September and November, respectively. Meeting these deadlines would avoid refunds -- which cost the county $100 million a year -- and would allow the corrected assessment to be considered for the following year’s assessments. The Mangano administration and current majority’s “fix” was to pass the refunds to the schools, towns, villages and fire departments.