(The following letter was sent to Hon. John Canning, Nassau County Legislator District 18 and is printed here with the permission of the writer.)

When the issue of granting villages the right to share in sales tax revenue became a concern to my village residents, you told me you would support any legislation, which would allow this to occur. I appreciate that support and I, along with the mayors from the other 63 incorporated villages, have been waiting patiently for our share of these revenues to be disseminated.

Notwithstanding the passing of a state law more than a year ago granting the villages the right to negotiate, there has been little movement on the part of the Nassau County Legislature to make this happen. On June 30, Peter Schmitt, deputy presiding officer, addressed the executive committee of the Nassau County Village Officials Association. He told the committee that the legislature would support the sharing of sales tax if County Executive Gulotta would include it as a line item in his budget.

The county executive has reaffirmed his earlier commitment to the villages to include sales tax revenue sharing as a line item in his 1999 proposed budget, which will be released shortly. I trust that you, as well, will honor the commitment that you made to our village residents by supporting that amount earmarked for sharing sales tax revenues with villages.

Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.