Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano says his proposed 2015 budget will include a 2.2 percent property tax hike.
Mangano calls the hike a last resort measure to offset a drop in the county's main source of revenue, the sales tax.
"These bills have to be paid and there's just a tremendous amount of pressure when your major revenue source is unexplainably dipping," says Mangano.
Under Mangano's budget, the county portion of property taxes would go up about $41 a year for the average Nassau homeowner, or about 80 cents a week.
Democrats point out that the increase is on top of several permit and fee hikes the Mangano administration has imposed.
Mangano says most Nassau homeowners should get all of next year's tax increase refunded to them thanks to a bill passed in Albany this year.
The proposed budget now goes to the county legislature for its approval. A new budget has to be approved by the end of October.