COMPTROLLER SUBPOENAS RECORDS OF SYOSSET SANITARY DISTRICT

Special Tax District is "Stonewalling" Audit, Weitzman Says

The Nassau County Comptroller's Office has issued a subpoena to obtain financial records of the Syosset Sanitary District in connection with the audit of five special tax districts in Nassau County, Comptroller Howard Weitzman announced today.

"As part of our first-ever audit of Nassau County's special taxing authorities, our auditors are currently examining the finances and operations of five sanitary districts in the county's three townships," Comptroller Weitzman said. "The Syosset Sanitary District, in the Town of Oyster Bay, is the only district that has chosen to stonewall our auditors, failing to provide financial documents despite repeated requests over the last two months. I call on the commissioners of the district to comply fully with the subpoena by the return date of Friday, May 27.

"The Syosset Sanitary District is a local government agency," the Comptroller said. "If the commissioners choose to continue to withhold the district's financial records from public scrutiny, they will have to explain the reason in court."

Comptroller Weitzman announced in February that he would begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing authorities, located throughout Nassau County's three townships, which spend millions of taxpayer dollars every year with virtually no public scrutiny. The districts currently being audited are Sanitary Districts #1, #2, and #6 (Town of Hempstead), the Port Washington Garbage District (Town of North Hempstead), and the Syosset Sanitary District (Town of Oyster Bay).

"The profusion of these special districts add to the staggering tax burden in Nassau," Comptroller Weitzman said. "They also tend to mask the true cost of town government. Our audits are intended to provide the overtaxed citizens of Nassau County with a better understanding of how these districts spend their money and whether or not they are efficiently run.

"There is absolutely no excuse for a public entity to refuse to cooperate with a Comptroller's audit," Comptroller Weitzman added. "The taxpayers deserve to know whether these districts are being operated in the public interest."

Comptroller Weitzman noted that, based on the Syosset district's 2003 annual report, the district had total expenses of about $396,000, out of which more than $67,000 went to pay legal fees. "One of the things we intend to examine closely is why about 17 percent of a sanitary district budget - more than $77 for each of the 762 families and 108 commercial businesses served by the district -- is going to pay lawyers."

The special district audits are intended to provide a better understanding of the districts' expenditures, hiring and procurement practices, and the efficiency of their operations. Based on the findings of the first group of audits, the Comptroller's Office will consider additional audits of special districts within its jurisdiction. Fire districts, school districts, and library districts do not fall under that jurisdiction.