Mineola, NY- Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos announced a major update to the availability of public information today as his office added over 50,000 payments to vendors to be reviewed by the public. In the interest of full transparency, payments from Jan 1st of 2013 through January 23rd of 2014 (over 50,000) are available online in an easily sortable and searchable format. The payments posted include the name of the vendor, the claim amount, the date it was posted and reference numbers.
This follows last week’s posting online of all County Contracts from 2013 to achieve the highest government transparency. In keeping with the Comptroller’s standards of innovation and controlling costs, all the latest available social media tools are used to achieve the greatest public access using Facebook, Twitter and Google Docs. A link to these lists is also on the Comptroller’s county website. All of the social media utilized to provide these lists are free to the public and no sign-in is required. The list will be updated weekly as the Comptroller’s office receives, reviews, and approves contracts and claims for payment.
Historically this information would have to be requested via a Freedom of Information Law request.
“We want to restore the trust of the public in government and we are going to continue to provide taxpayers with a snapshot of exactly where their money is going,” Comptroller Maragos said. “The list of payments to vendors will serve as a guide to anyone who has a question or a concern of fraud, waste, or abuse of County funds. My office has been able to post all of this information using the latest technology available to our office at no cost to the taxpayer.”
The only claims that have not yet been posted are those submitted throughout 2013 from the District Attorney’s office. The District Attorney requested they be given the opportunity to review any claims which may contain confidential information or could pose a security threat if the information were made public. Upon completion of their review by the District attorney’s staff those claims will be posted as well.
Nassau County spent over $700 million on contracts with hundreds of vendors in 2013. These vendors provide a range of essential services and products for taxpayers including road paving, traffic light maintenance, fraud investigations, social services and transportation for seniors, the needy and children with special challenges. The Comptroller’s office receives thousands of bills submitted by vendors and pays, after careful review, for the work or product that was performed according to the contract specifications. In order to not overwhelm the public, the over 50,000 claims include payments above $1000 only. The Comptroller’s Facebook page is facebook.com/nccomptroller.
Connect with Nassau County Comptroller Maragos Online:
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/1590/County-Comptrollers-Office