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Hevesi to Audit Nassau Sanitation
Districts’ Reporting
to State Pension System
State Audits
Prompted by Salary Irregularities Uncovered by
Nassau County Comptroller's Office
State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi today announced a series of audits
to review potential abuse of the State pension system by six sanitary
districts on Long Island. The audits come in response to information
provided by Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman, who uncovered
a lack of controls and fiscal mismanagement at three of the Districts
that participate in the New York State and Local Retirement System
(NYSLRS), which is administered by Hevesi.
Building on findings of the Nassau Comptroller's office , State auditors will also conduct
an in-depth audit of Hempstead Sanitary District #1 – which serves
the Five Towns and Valley Stream South – to examine time and
attendance rules, payroll policies, use of personal service contracts
and other employment-related issues.
The audits will start immediately.
“Comptroller Weitzman has already determined that Nassau County
residents pay the price for excessive compensation, extravagant spending
and a lack of adequate record keeping in the form of higher costs for
trash removal,” Hevesi said. “Our examination will determine
if the six sanitary districts that participate in the Retirement System
are reporting retirement credits accurately, so that we can ensure
that taxpayers are not paying for pension benefits to which employees
are not entitled.”
The six districts that participate in the NYSLRS and will be audited
are:
- Hempstead Sanitary District #2
- West Hempstead Sanitation District #6
- Lawrence (Hempstead) Sanitary District #1
- Oceanside Sanitary District #7
- Roslyn Garbage District (North Hempstead)
- Hempstead Sanitary District #14
Together, these Districts report 433 employees to the
retirement system.
The Nassau Comptroller's office reviews of Sanitary Districts to date have covered
Town of Hempstead Sanitary Districts #1, #2 and #6, as well as two
other districts outside the Town of Hempstead, that do not participate
in the NYSLRS. Weitzman initiated the series of audits after the County Assessor
and others pointed out that the revenue raised and expenditures made
by special taxing districts such as these sanitary districts occurred
with little public scrutiny or governmental oversight.
Weitzman said, “When we issued our audits of five Nassau County
sanitary districts last month, we felt strongly that our findings contained ‘red
flags’ suggesting the possibility of fraud. Accordingly, we referred
these findings to the Nassau County District Attorney and State Comptroller
Hevesi. We are pleased that both offices have now launched their own
investigations. The waste uncovered at these sanitary districts occurred
because, prior to these audits, there has been almost no public oversight
of these operations. It is past time for these multi-million dollar
public agencies to be run efficiently and in the taxpayers’ interest.”
Hevesi’s auditors will determine if the districts have been:
- Properly reporting time worked and salary for employees;
- Keeping proper records, including time cards and logs of activities
for appointed officials;
- Reporting full time status for only those employees working full
time;
- Accurately enrolling employees to membership and notifying part
time employees of their right to membership as required by section
45 of the Retirement and Social Security Law; and
- Properly classifying employees to ensure that independent contractors
are not being reported as employees.
State auditors will also conduct a comprehensive audit of Hempstead
Sanitary District #1. The district, which was found to have among the
highest garbage collection costs in Nassau County, generated some of
Weitzman’s most disturbing findings including excessive and unexplained
payments to commissioners and top staff, excessive travel and meal
allowances, and inadequate tracking of hours worked by employees. The
District’s treasurer had four reported public sector jobs and
more than 700 work days reported to the NYSLRS for one year. District
employees refused to cooperate with
auditors from the Nassau County Comptroller's office
and effectively
prevented the audit from being completed.
“Such unwillingness to cooperate by the subject of an audit
raises serious questions,” Hevesi said. “In the case of
Hempstead District #1, the preliminary findings are so troubling that
we will pursue a more thorough audit using all appropriate and necessary
legal resources available to my office.”
The Nassau County Comptroller's audit of Town of Hempstead Sanitary District #2 (Baldwin
area), issued on September 21, found millions of dollars wasted every
year on administrative expenses, including unnecessary and overpriced
insurance sold to the District by a no-bid broker and personal use
of 11 district cars and trucks. An audit of Hempstead's Sanitary District
#6 found that there was no timekeeping for the District's employees,
as well as various other financial control weaknesses. All three of
the districts in the Town of Hempstead allowed sanitation workers to
work as little as 15-20 hours a week, although they are paid full-time
salaries.
Garbage collection in Nassau is arranged by the county’s towns,
cities and villages within the county or by 24 town-created special
sanitary districts. These local sanitary districts, some of which have
elected commissioners, provide services only to residents and commercial
establishments within their borders, and district expenses are funded
through local tax levies.
The New York State and Local Retirement System offers retirement benefits
for members who reach specific ages or have completed a specified number
of years of service, depending on the system and plan in which employees
are enrolled. At the end of fiscal year 2004-05, there were a total
of 982,009 members, retirees and beneficiaries, and 2,993 participating
employers including local governments, authorities and other governmental
entities around the State. Contributions from enrolled employees and
their employers are managed by the New York State Comptroller who invests
the funds to ensure availability of resources to meet obligations to
retirees, members and beneficiaries, and to moderate increases in required
employer contributions.
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Albany Phone: (518) 474-4015 Fax:(518)
473-8940
NYC Phone: (212) 681-4825 Fax:(212) 681-4468
Internet: http://www.osc.state.ny.us
E-Mail:press@osc.state.ny.us |
