Counts Adjustments from Past Months Towards Current Month’s Sales Tax Figures, Claims 61.9% One-Month Growth
(Long Island, NY) Former Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman blasted George Maragos for once again misleading the people of Nassau County with ‘creative accounting.’ Maragos claimed that July 2013 sales tax revenue came in 61.9% higher than July of 2012. The problem is that the July 2013 figures include adjustments for underpayments in May and June of 2013.
“George Maragos’s latest example of shoddy accounting has once again demonstrated why Nassau County needs a Certified Public Accountant serving as Comptroller,” said Weitzman, a CPA. “There is a reason why George Marlin, a conservative financial commentator and member of NIFA once said that ‘Mr. Maragos insists on advertising his ignorance of public finance.” (Newsday, 12/22/10)
Maragos is taking the unprecedented step of citing sales tax revenue checks instead of month to month changes in revenue in his office’s accounting. Using this bogus accounting technique is like comparing apples to oranges and paints a laughable and dishonest picture of the county’s financial condition.
While the year-to-date increase in sales tax revenue is welcome news for all of Nassau County’s hard-pressed taxpayers, it is the responsibility of the County Comptroller to issue accurate financial statements, not exaggerate them for political purposes.
About Howard Weitzman, CPA
In 2001, Howard Weitzman became the only CPA ever elected to the office of Nassau County Comptroller after a 30 year career as a healthcare financial executive. He was subsequently re-elected to a second term in 2005. During his eight years as Comptroller, Howard Weitzman played a central role in the financial rescue of Nassau County. Under Howard’s leadership, the office of Comptroller became a national model for transparency and accountability while at the same time developing a reputation for groundbreaking audits, independence and integrity. A graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School and Queens College, Howard is the former Mayor of Great Neck Estates, where he and his wife resided for 35 years and raised three children. He is currently a resident of North Hills.
