S&P downgrades Suffolk County, outlook negative

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

S&P downgrades Suffolk County, outlook negative

Why should Suffolk county be left behind when our FED is on a borrowing binge. For fat paychecks and cushy benefits we have tax payers money and for everything else we have Master Card. Why not live the high life with borrowed money ? When are you going to actually earn before we make a purchase ?

I wonder why US is the World's Biggest Debtor Nation, Gross external debt $13.92 trillion.

Wall Street rating agency Standard & Poor's, worried about Suffolk County's use of rainy day funds, has raised a financial red flag, giving the county a "negative outlook" for its upcoming $101.1-million borrowing.

While issuing a financial warning, Standard & Poor's maintained the county's AA rating, citing Suffolk's strong and diverse economy, substantial tax base despite recent declines and overall moderate debt burden.

Connie Corso, Suffolk's budget director, called the ratings "good news," noting Suffolk has maintained its high bond ratings with all three ratings agencies. "It will not change the interest rates the county pays," she said.

Standard & Poor's said the county's financial position has "deteriorated due to ongoing weakness in economically sensitive revenues, notably sales tax" as well as drawdowns on its reserve fund since 2006.
S&P's negative outlook comes after Fitch Ratings in December lowered Suffolk from a AA rating to a AA-minus for similar reasons.

Moody's Investors Service last week maintained Suffolk's Aa2 rating with a stable outlook for the borrowing, which will take place tomorrow.

Source: Newsday By RICK BRAND

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Long Island Property taxes most important issue, say LIers

No surprise here ! To stop this ridiculous rise in property taxes we have to educate our fellow LIers and contact your representative that they should demand Speaker Silver respond to the pleas of homeowners across the state and support a property tax cap in New York. It has already passed the senate but is being stalled in the Assembly by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Also this year we are seeing some enormous rise in property taxes in school districts such as William Floyd 12.47% and Seaford 8.99%. Some school districts such as Middle country is resorting to blackmailing its residents. The deal for districts residents is either approved a 6.68% increase or the district is going to force 21.61% increase in tax levy.

Published by THOMAS MAIER at Newsday

By a wide margin, property taxes are the most important issue facing Long Islanders, according to a Newsday / News 12 Long Island / Siena Research Institute Poll. Property taxes were cited overall by 45 percent of respondents, more than twice the 21 percent who cited "availability of good jobs" as the second most pressing issue for Long Islanders. "Property taxes are really an issue here because it keeps the young people from staying on Long Island and it will prevent the older people from staying, too," Tafuri explained.

Property taxes also are a large part of why the 57 percent of those polled said Long Islanders are headed in the "wrong direction" rather than the "right track" in the poll. A similar margin said New York State was headed in the wrong direction as well.

Property taxes are a particularly raw issue in Nassau County, where 53 percent cited them as the biggest issue, compared to 36 percent in Suffolk. Islandwide, Republicans and people 55 years or older complained about property taxes the most. "The Democrats love to spend money and they have to get it from the taxpayers," said one poll respondent, a retired Republican who lives on Nassau County's South Shore.

School costs - the biggest part of property tax bills - were also on the minds of Long Islanders who cited "the quality of public schools" among their top concerns. "The first thing I would do is eliminate tenure for teachers in public schools to cut costs," said another poll respondent, a 50-year-old Garden City man who is a Republican and who did not want to give his name. Although he was happy that his two children attending local schools got a good education there, he said his family's property tax bill has been overwhelming.

Property taxes hit a chord with all respondents, regardless of age, race, gender, religion, location or party affiliation. In addition to identifying the most important issue, the poll underlined the intensity of Long Islanders' general feelings about property taxes, with 86 percent calling the issue "very important" and 11 percent as "somewhat important." Crime, schools, good jobs and health care also received strong reactions, with traffic congestion and the local environment getting milder reactions.