January 18, 2007

WEITZMAN COMMENDS DECISION BY TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD TO
REVIEW SPECIAL DISTRICT BUDGETS

Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman today welcomed the Town of Hempstead’s reversal of its former “hands-off” policy regarding overspending by the special taxing districts within the Town, including the sanitation district found in a New York State audit last week to be wasting large sums of money.

The new policy, under which the Town agrees to exercise its authority to cut excessive spending proposed by these special districts, was disclosed in a letter from the Town received by Comptroller Weitzman yesterday, January 17.  Comptroller Weitzman issued the following statement today:

“All Town of Hempstead taxpayers should join me in welcoming the decision of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray to begin exercising her legal authority to review the budgets of special tax districts in the Town of Hempstead.  Supervisor Murray’s decision, relayed to me yesterday in a letter, represents the achievement of a goal long sought by this office, namely the increased oversight of commissioner-run special districts by local authorities. 

“In reversing her policy on oversight of special districts, Supervisor Murray joins her fellow Supervisors, Jon Kaiman in the Town of North Hempstead and John Venditto in the Town of Oyster Bay, who began to exercise their legal authority to review these budgets in 2006.”

“I have repeatedly urged Supervisor Murray to review the budgets of commissioner-run districts within her jurisdiction line-by-line, just as the Town reviews the budgets of districts and departments under direct town management.  Local oversight is essential if we are ever to make these taxing districts more accountable and rein in their excessive spending.”

In addition to reviewing proposed spending by special districts, Towns also have the authority to audit such districts, Comptroller Weitzman said.  “Considering the wasteful spending practices we and the state uncovered in our audits of special districts within the Town of Hempstead, I urge Supervisor Murray to start exercising her audit powers to identify areas of overspending and waste of taxpayer dollars,” he said.

The Office of the State Comptroller issued an audit of Sanitary District #1 in the Five Towns area on January 11, following a 2005 analysis of the district by Comptroller Weitzman.  The state found that Sanitary District One wastes large sums of taxpayer money by lavishing benefits on its Board of Commissioners and top management that are far more generous than those of neighboring sanitary districts, by failing to procure goods and services competitively, and by lax internal financial controls that contribute to “uneconomical and inefficient” operations.

Governor Spitzer, in his State of the State message, announced his intention to appoint a Commission on Local Government Efficiency to devise a plan to consolidate some of the 4200 independent taxing districts statewide and to make the remaining districts more cost-efficient.  “Governor Spitzer recognizes that the proliferation of these shadow governments is a cause of high property taxes in Nassau and statewide,” Comptroller Weitzman said.  “Much can be done on both the state and local level to cut the burden these districts impose on taxpayers, including cutting out excessive spending, which the Town of Hempstead has now agreed to do."