Nassau lawmakers are considering their options to fill a massive budget hole after the county's fiscal watchdog agency voted down their approved spending plan last week.

NIFA directed county officials to come up with $36 million through spending cuts or in new revenue to fill the budget gap. Legislators are faced with the gap after they voted to reduce a proposed public safety fee on traffic tickets from $105 down to $55.

County Executive Ed Mangano's office says it has a list of possible expenditure cuts to come up with the remaining money, including suspending $3.8 million in funding for NICE buses, delaying the hiring of new police officers and suspending government assistance to local villages.

County legislators are looking at an option that would raise a tax map verification fee for real estate transactions from $225 to $355 in an effort to bring in an estimated $15 million.

Republicans say it's a way to avoid other proposed cuts to valuable youth services and other programs. But the Democratic minority argues that an increase in tax map fees is not the way.

"We believe it is a tax on real estate transactions, and we believe with the increase from last year, it went from $75 to $225 -- this is a 400 percent increase," says Democratic Legislator Siela Bynoe.

The tax map fee passed two committees and will go up for a full Legislature vote on Dec. 14.