for the first of two workshops - the first being on the area east of Interstate 95 generally known as Wildlight, and the second being on the budget - before their hours-long regular meeting kicked off at 6 p.m.
It was a long day for Commissioners, who met at 3 p.m. “This is a huge win-win for Nassau County and the taxpayers,” Nassau County Commission Chairman Jeff Gray said after Commissioners’ unanimous votes on the budget and tentative millage rate. “This troubling situation is threatening the livelihood for these hard-working individuals and the potential lost income may never be recovered,” Schaefer said in the statement. “Both the new applications and renewals backlogs must be addressed by the administration without any more excuses.The standard of living in Nassau County is high, but with increased property values and spending comes increased revenue for the county government, which is looking at reducing its millage rate by 3% for the next fiscal year while pulling in over 11% more cash. Legislator Laura Schaefer said it is “a disgrace” for business owners to wait so long to receive licenses.
#Intime nassau county license#
“I’ve spent 10 years building my business with a clean record and thanks to referrals from my customers had the opportunity to expand into Nassau County, but I can’t get the license I need due to my application waiting to be processed for months on end,” Chan said. “I keep telling people I can’t start their work without the proper license, which leaves both sides frustrated, and it’s also affecting my ability to hire workers, so they are being hurt as well.” “The focus of the office at this point in time is to process the pending applications as quickly as possible to have the bulk of the applications fully processed within the coming weeks,” Fricchione said via email.Ĭontractor Tony Chan, president of Flushing, Queens-based Phicon, estimates that he’s lost out on more than $400,000 in revenue because of the county’s licensing delays. The licensing fees run about $1,000 for a two-year home improvement license, according to a spokesperson for the legislators.Ĭounty spokesman Michael Fricchione said that there is a “constant ebb and flow” of applications being received by the Office of Consumer Affairs and the status of applications is fluid. “I paid my fee in January and have been patiently waiting for more than nine months for my license,” Manitaras said. “Meanwhile, I was able to get the license I applied for in Suffolk County in about a week. During that time, I’ve lost out on over $50,000 in income from jobs I could have completed in Nassau and am at the point where I could lose my house. Nassau County has failed me and it’s clear this department is malfunctioning.” One of the contractors at the press event, Jim Manitaras a Nassau resident and owner of Creative Home Construction shared his experience of dealing with the county’s Consumer Affairs Office.
“Today I am proud to stand with these businesses and call on the county executive to immediately resolve this matter so these individuals can try to keep their businesses alive and take care of their families.” “At a time when small business owners and contractors are struggling to recover from the pandemic, it’s inconceivable that this administration has allowed this to happen,” Legislator Steve Rhoads said in a written statement. The legislators say the delays have cost the applicants “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in lost income.
The legislators claim that during last week’s budget hearings, Gregory May, Nassau’s commissioner of its Department of Consumer Affairs, said there is currently a backlog of 800 new applications and more than 5,000 license renewal applications are waiting to be processed. Some of the applicants have been waiting for as much as a year for business licenses they paid for but have yet to receive. A group of Nassau County legislators were joined by construction contractors at a press conference in Mineola Thursday to complain about long delays in the county’s licensing process.
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