Welcome to Financial Literacy Month with the Nassau County Comptroller
April is Financial Literacy Month. Financial literacy is a term that refers to the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including personal financial management, budgeting, and investing, to build your financial well-being. As Comptroller of Nassau County and a long-time finance professional, this is a concept that is very important to me.
Financial literacy is so important that the U.S. Department of the Treasury created a Financial Literacy and Education Commission in 2003. The Commission launched and maintains a national financial education web site and an ongoing national strategy to promote financial education. The Commission is chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury and the vice chair is the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
I encourage you to visit the Commission’s website, www.MyMoney.gov, to access information and tools that can help you and the people you know to improve your personal financial literacy, and therefore, your financial stability throughout the changing stages of your life.
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Literacy and Awareness Go Hand-in-Hand
Among the most important functions of the Comptroller’s Office is to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure fiscal accountability throughout County government and businesses that do business with the County.
Financial Literacy Month is a great time to check out the resources that enable you to see how your tax dollars are being spent. Last month I shared links to and information about Open Nassau, the County’s transparency portal. There you can see detailed registers of revenue we have received, payments we have made, the current Nassau County budget, and more.
Today, I want to call your attention to reports that describe the County’s fiscal condition and field audits that the Comptroller’s Office has conducted to prevent waste, fraud and abuse of your tax dollars.
In the Financial Reports section of the Comptroller’s Office website, you can read Nassau County’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Popular Annual Financial Report, an analysis of the 2023 budget that was done by my office before the budget was passed, and other detailed accounts of the County’s financial activities.
In the Field Audit section of the website, you can read our recent four-part report on the financial management of Town of Hempstead Sanitary District Number 7, our comprehensive Review of the 2020/2021 Reassessment, and reports on a Limited Review of Hiring Practices and Related Parties Nepotism within the Nassau County Civil Service Commission, a Limited Review of the Atlantic Beach Bridge Authority and other important topics.
We publish these reports and call your attention to them because it is your right to know how your tax dollars are being spent.
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What’s New?
Presently, the Field Audit team in the Comptroller’s Office is wrapping up a Review of the Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs’ Licensing Division Procedures and Processes. This inquiry came as a result of many complaints and reports of extraordinary frustration among Nassau County business owners who waited unusually long periods of time to get their licenses or have them renewed. We quickly learned there was a backlog of hundreds of new applications and thousands of renewals. Soon we will release a report on the findings of this audit, and our recommendations.
Our Accounting Division is hard at work closing the County’s vast and highly complex books for 2022 and preparing the Comprehensive and Popular Annual Reports that are due by June 30.
Our Payroll and Health Benefits Division continues to administer payroll and health benefits for the County’s 8,000 employees, 12,000 retirees and their dependents, while also addressing time-sensitive matters such as implementing the pay and benefits changes brought about by the new collective bargaining agreement between the County and our Police Benevolent Association (PBA).
As the independent protector of Nassau County taxpayers and residents, it is my responsibility to ensure county departments operate efficiently and effectively. I remain committed to improving efficiency and transparency at Nassau County, and restoring people’s faith in government.
My team and I are committed to accountability and transparency in Nassau County taxpayers. We invite you to peruse the Open Nassau transparency portal and let us know if you have any questions. You can reach us at 516-571-2386 or nccomptroller@nassaucountyny.gov.
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