EAST MEADOW, NY – Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman joined members of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee at a press conference to announce the next stage of the Open Nassau Transparency Platform—The Comptroller’s Scorecard. Fulfilling a key pledge made prior to taking office as Comptroller, Schnirman and his team launched this data-driven transparency dashboard that displays the key indicators the Comptroller’s office uses to measure Nassau County’s fiscal health.
The Scorecard tracks and displays various financial metrics and economic indicators that drive the overall fiscal health of the County, including unassigned fund balance, outstanding serial bonds, and sales tax revenues. Measures will be labeled as “On Track,” “Off Track,” and “Caution,” and where there is an important trend, it is noted. The press conference was held at a baseball field in Eisenhower Park, highlighting Schnirman’s role as Nassau County’s “fiscal umpire,” and following the start of the World Series.
“As the County’s fiscal umpire, making a scorecard accessible for all is a key component to calling balls and strikes on the County’s fiscal health,” said Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman. “The Comptroller’s Scorecard takes important information about County government and our economy, drawn from 2018 audited financial statements (CAFR), the 2019 mid-year report, and 2020 projections, and presents it in an accessible way for anyone to digest quickly. It is also useful for County government as a performance measurement tool so that we can make good data available and enable smarter and quicker data-driven decisions.”
“The County cannot make progress addressing its fiscal health without clearly tracking where things stand,” said Colleen Woodell, Chair of the Independent Audit Advisory Committee with a decades-long career in public finance or municipal credit analysis. “The Scorecard is an important step for good government in Nassau County and brings critical information to the forefront, allowing an accurate and up-to-date picture for taxpayers.”
The data projected and tracked in the Comptroller’s Scorecard focuses on fiscal health measures.Economic performance metrics, including the County’s single-largest revenue source, sales tax, and
economic indicators that contribute to the fiscal health of Nassau County’s government are included to illustrate the health of the local economy.
“The taxpayers of Nassau County are entitled to a transparent and easy-to-understand way to understand our county’s finances,” continued Schnirman. “These are the metrics that we look at.
The Scorecard offers a snapshot of what is detailed in the reports that my office regularly releases and displays them for all to see in an easy, accessible manner and tracks progress over time.”
All of these platforms are accessible from the new Open Nassau Transparency Hub, www.opennassau.nassaucountyny.gov, which includes links to Open Checkbook, Open Payroll, Open Budget, and reports from the Comptroller’s Office Policy and Research Unit. There is no cost or registration requirements for the public to access these new platforms.