Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's 2026 budget proposal increases spending on police overtime to $60 million — up $10 million from this year — even as prior years have shown the extra police work costs millions more.

Police overtime for this year is already on track to exceed $68 million, $18 million more than the $50 million budgeted in the county's 2025 adopted budget, according to an analysis released this week by the county's Office of Legislative Budget Review, suggesting Blakeman might be budgeting too little for the extra hours police will work next year.

The department tends to spend more than anticipated — $80 million in 2024 and $73 million in 2023, according to budget documents. It's unclear why Blakeman boosted the police overtime budget by $10 million for next year,

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