Financial Report Lacks Credibility
(Long Island, NY) Former Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman criticized George Maragos for misleading the public with the issuance of the county’s 2012 year-end financial report.
“This year-end financial report is a work of fiction,” said Weitzman, a Certified Public Accountant. “Everyone in Nassau County knows the County’s finances are a mess and it has happened on the watch of George Maragos. He can use misleading accounting to mask the truth, but the rating agencies continue to downgrade the County’s finances because they operate objectively and see through Mr. Maragos’s gimmicks.”
Today’s announcement of the year-end report for fiscal year 2012 by Maragos does not account for the hundreds of millions of dollars owed by the county to taxpayers who successfully challenged property tax assessments. The report also irresponsibly assumes that FEMA will grant 100% of requested reimbursements for Superstorm Sandy expenses.
“Ignoring the expense of unpaid property tax refunds is like putting your credit card bill in a drawer and assuming it no longer needs to be paid,” said Weitzman.
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.
