April 17, 2008

Weitzman calls on State Comptroller to share State data base
so County can search for improper pensions

Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman today called on State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to share the state’s databases with the County so that the County Comptroller’s Office could look for independent County contractors who were improperly granted pension credits, or full time employment status, that wrongly qualified them to receive generous benefits at taxpayer expense. The request follows the discovery that a lawyer who worked as a consultant to the County under contract for over 21 years, Albert D’Agostino, was retroactively given credit for 21 years of County employment.

In a letter to the State Comptroller, Weitzman wrote:

“I recently called on Attorney General Cuomo and Nassau County District Attorney Rice to ask them to consider investigating the grant of over 21 years of retroactive pension credit to Albert D’Agostino, for time he worked under a County contract for Nassau County. I am very concerned that there may have been other instances of improper grants of County pension credits, and I write to you to request that the Comptroller’s Office initiate a search of its databases to identify other potential similar instances. As you recently reiterated, actual Nassau County employees are entitled to pension credits, but taxpayers should never have been required to support pensions to persons who are really independent contractors.”

Weitzman said that he would like the State Comptroller to identify anyone who was given pension credit based on County 1099 payments instead of wages.

“If those records are not available, then we would propose doing a match against all retirees who received retroactive credit for County service from the State, including the amount of retroactive credit given; and, all retirees who are listed as full time but worked less than a 4 day week,” Weitzman said.

Weitzman’s office would then try to match these databases against County employment records to identify any persons who were never actually employed by the County, but who provided information to the retirement system claiming to be County employees and were granted pension credits.