MINEOLA - Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman announced the launch of an audit of the Town of Hempstead Sanitary District No. 7 (Oceanside), utilizing the Comptroller's Office authority to conduct audits of special districts and townships, as was recently affirmed by the Appellate Division 2nd Department after the New York State Court of Appeals recently denied to hear an appeal of that decision.
Over the last year, the Comptroller’s Office received complaints about the Sanitary District through the ‘Report it Reform it’ tipline. With this authority affirmed, the Comptroller’s Office can now proceed forward with an audit.
"When we ask questions, we sometimes get pushback. Now it is clear that when we get pushback, we have the authority to keep pressing forward," said Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman. "Town of Hempstead Sanitary District No. 7 has been a lightning rod of controversy, but separate and apart from that, it is our responsibility to ensure that taxpayers best interests are at the forefront of their operations. We will not be shy in our inquiry and will look at both the performance and financial condition of the District."
The affirmation of the Comptroller's authority ends more than three years of litigation which arose from an audit first initiated by the previous Comptroller in 2017 and was continued by Schnirman. The District was previously audited by the Nassau County Comptroller in 2009 and was subject to a review from the State Comptroller in 2014.
Town of Hempstead Sanitary District No. 7 (Oceanside) has recently been in the news for other controversial reasons, but this audit is separate from those allegations.
"While the Commissioner's repugnant views are deeply disturbing, they are not the subject of this audit. If our audit uncovers that bias in any way impacted the delivery of services to residents or how the district did business, we will act on it," concluded Schnirman.