NIFA, Suffolk seek DiNapoli's input

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's a wanted man in both Nassau and Suffolk counties -- for his budget expertise, that is.

In Nassau, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, the state control board overseeing county finances, last month asked the comptroller's office to step in and figure out what's happening with the contracting process.

As last year pulled to a close, it became painfully obvious that cash-strapped Nassau had spent millions of dollars on legal and other services before contracts had the required approval of NIFA or county lawmakers.

In an interview, DiNapoli said his office planned to agree to the control board's request.

In Suffolk, DiNapoli and County Executive Steve Bellone spoke often during Bellone's election campaign to determine whether the comptroller could have a role in determining the size of the gulf between revenue and expenses in 2012.

Bellone ultimately chose a different route, last week appointing a committee of experts who have 30 days to sift through to a bottom-line deficit number for this and next year.

Is there still a role for the comptroller to play? Yes, according to Jon Schneider, a spokesman for Bellone. Schneider said Bellone and DiNapoli "have a fantastic relationship and they are going to be doing a lot of things together."

DiNapoli said his office could, if asked, review the committee's recommendations and help in other ways.

The twin calls for DiNapoli's assistance come as both counties are facing fiscal challenges at the same time, though for different reasons.

Suffolk, like most other New York State counties recovering from the recession, is at the beginning of a fiscal pruning and potential government reorganization process.

Nassau, after more than a decade of fiscal problems -- and millions of dollars in state assistance -- is still struggling. "It's like watching a bad movie all over again," said DiNapoli, who lives in Great Neck Plaza.

He should know.

DiNapoli, a Democrat and former state assemblyman, and now-state Senate majority leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) wrote the law that created NIFA. They also worked together twice to extend NIFA's limited oversight of Nassau's finances during the administration of former County Executive Thomas Suozzi.

DiNapoli's ties to Nassau run deep: He once was the youngest elected local official in Nassau, serving on the Great Neck school board at age 18. Later, DiNapoli was chairman of the county Democratic party when Democrats in 1999 won the legislature for the first time in 75 years.

DiNapoli, appointed state comptroller in 2007, won election to the post in 2010. Since then, he's kept an eye on Nassau's finances, he said, through Christopher P. Wright, his office's appointee to NIFA.

Last week, DiNapoli attended Bellone's inauguration in Suffolk. He also was in Nassau when the new county legislature, where Republicans now have only a one-vote majority, was sworn in.

"With the election behind us, it seemed to me in Nassau that everybody seemed to be saying that there was a need to work together," DiNapoli said.

It's the only way to manage the difficult fiscal choices coming for both counties.