Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman says he has initiated an audit of the county’s Industrial Development Agency.
“The public has demanded transparency and reform of its county IDA, and this audit is a perfect way to jumpstart that process,” Schnirman said in a statement last Tuesday. “Our team has developed an intensive scope of work that will deliver a fresh look at how the IDA is being operated and how successful it is at creating jobs, growing the tax base, and supporting economic development.”
Schnirman said he submitted a letter to IDA Executive Director Joseph J. Kearney on Feb. 9 to announce the start of the audit. He expects the audit to be completed in six to nine months.
Statistics from the state’s comptroller’s office show Nassau behind comparable counties when it comes to job creation. In 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, Nassau spent $300 per job gained, twice as much as Westchester County and three times as much as Suffolk County. And yet Nassau created the fewest jobs of the three counties.
In 2011, Schnirman’s predecessor, George Maragos, conducted an audit of the IDA that uncovered a lack of guidelines and procedures. After the state statistics showed the county issued $43,325,571 in net tax exemptions during 2013— more than Suffolk and Westchester combined — Maragos said the IDA should reconsider its criteria by which tax exemptions are awarded.
That year, Nassau’s expenses per job gained were $1,324, compared with $113 in Westchester and just $73 in Suffolk.
Schnirman said he wanted to follow up on the 2011 audit to see if the issues identified in Maragos’ report were acted upon. But he also wanted to make it clear that this audit was not intended to be an adversarial struggle with the IDA.
“We’re not looking to just provide a list of problems,” he said. “We want recommendations and reforms going forward, we want to achieve the goal of our IDA being a real engine of job creation.”
The audit will evaluate the agency’s finances and revenue; verify compliance; examine internal financial controls and governance; and review the project assessment process.
“It’s straightforward: Everyone pays more taxes when someone else pays less, so we need to be sure we are getting a solid return on these investments,” Schnirman said.
