The director of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority released a statement last week accusing county Comptroller George Maragos of engaging in “financial gimmicks” to falsely claim that the county is running a budget surplus.
Maragos, in an interview, rejected the charges and said NIFA director George Marlin’s statement was driven by political motivations.
“The county comptroller’s declaration that Nassau ended fiscal year 2012 with a ‘miraculous’ surplus was absurd. It was a mirage, not a miracle,” wrote Marlin. “I am shocked that after three years in office the comptroller does not yet understand that a budget is balanced only when tax and fee income is equal to expenditures.”
According to Marlin, the county’s claim that it will end 2012 with a $25.5 million surplus was not measured according to the accounting standards required by Nassau statute and relied on bookkeeping chicanery that ignored the county’s structural deficit.
Marlin, who also works as a conservative columnist and commentator, pointed to the growth in undecided real estate tax certiorari cases, which he said have grown from $150 million in possible liabilities at the end of 2010 to a projected $388 million by the end of 2013.
“As for [Nassau’s] 2013 budget, it is a classic election-year document designed to deceive voters,” wrote Marlin, suggesting that the county was approving tax refunds to individual residents for political purposes while commercial refund cases sit unaddressed.
Maragos, a Republican, said Marlin’s statement was a baseless political attack, and that NIFA had failed to use its control over county finances to help Nassau’s fiscal standing.
“That’s proven to be political. NIFA has basically exercised its right to impose control, but they have not helped the county in any way,” Maragos said.
The tax certiorari cases, Maragos said, are long-term debts that have accrued since before County Executive Edward Mangano took office, are yet to be resolved in court and are rightly not reflected on the county’s estimation of its surplus.
“Those are long-term liabilities that are not part of the budget process,” Maragos said. “That has been something that has been happening. You don’t pay bills until they become current.”
“He throws numbers out there that are out of context to spin a story that has no basis,” Maragos added.
Maragos said the Marlin’s statement reflected his personal views and was not endorsed by NIFA’s board. He also alleged that Marlin’s criticism was driven by personal political motivations.
“Absolutely he does [ have ambitions for elected office,]” Maragos said.
“Maybe he’s going to jump in and run for comptroller as well,” Maragos continued.
The comptrollers office will be issuing a rebuttal to Marlin’s statment in the coming days, according to Maragos.
