Op-Ed: Where Your Tax Dollars Go

By Elaine Phillips

Recently, we published an informational postcard and newsletter to help Nassau County taxpayers understand where your tax dollars go.

It included the pie chart below, which showed six categories of Nassau County spending, which encompass more than 40 County departments.

Many readers noticed that Law Enforcement and Safety represented the largest category of spending, at 32% of the County’s expenditures.

The Law Enforcement and Safety category includes Police Headquarters and Police Districts, the Sheriff’s Department and its Corrections Division, which runs the Nassau County Correctional Center, the Department of Probation, the Fire Commission, which includes the Fire Marshall’s Office, Fire Communications Center and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Academy, The Office of Emergency Management, and the office of the Crime Victim Advocate.

In August 2024, Nassau County was named the #1 Safest County in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.

This recognition came after U.S. News analyzed nearly 3,000 counties’ safety based upon crime, injuries and public safety capacity.

Nassau County earned a public safety score of 100 and was highlighted for its per capita spending on health and emergency services.

In a related U.S. News study that identified the top 500 Healthiest Communities nationwide, Nassau County came in at #29 based on factors including Population Health (measured by access to care, health behaviors, health conditions and health outcomes) and Food & Nutrition (based in part on availability of nutritious food).

Community data resource Niche.com also named Nassau County one of the Healthiest Counties in America, where we came in at #11 in the U.S. (out of 2,766 counties).

Niche also ranked Nassau County #17 in Best Counties for Families in America. Ratings such as these are a testament to the quality of life in our County.

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Elaine Phillips is the Comptroller of Nassau County. She has a background in finance, and previously served as the Mayor of the Village Flower Hill, and a New York State Senator.