(Long Island, NY) Incredibly, after three years in office Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos still doesn’t understand the requirements of the office he was elected to. His latest fiasco is admitting in Newsday today that he has paid Sandy contractors over $35 million without fully auditing their bills. Maragos said he now wants to “verify…that they’ve actually done the work they represent in their claim” and send a “strong message” that he will be monitoring all Sandy contractors.
“Maragos doesn’t understand that this is what Nassau taxpayers elected him to do,” said Weitzman. “The County charter gives the Comptroller the unfettered right to audit all payments made on behalf of the County. These contracts probably represent the largest contract payments made by Nassau in years. What was Maragos doing during the previous 5 months before Newsday woke him up?”
This admission follows a bizarre interview with another local newspaper chain where Maragos staunchly defended the County’s financial position. He asked “why can’t people believe that if we give them an audited financial statement and show we have a surplus, why isn’t it real”. Unfortunately, the last County audited financial statement was for 2011 and showed a $45 million deficit. 2012 still has not been released yet and will probably not reflect the hundreds of millions in unpaid real estate tax refunds that have built up under his watch. Maragos was elected to be the Taxpayer Watchdog, not the County Executives lapdog.
About Howard Weitzman
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.
For information about this release please contact: Pat McKenna (917) 748-8518
