Audit sees overcharges at Albertson school

An Albertson school for disabled children overcharged the state at least $835,074 over two years for "unreasonable and unnecessary expenses," including a leased Lexus for its parent company's president, a state audit said Wednesday.

The audit said the Henry Viscardi School should not have billed the state for $88,275 in bonuses for the president and the chief financial officer of its parent company, the National Center for Disabilities, also from Albertson, which does business as Abilities!

And the school should not have reimbursed the parent company $280,000 a year for "leadership expenses" since the school had its own leadership team, the audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli praised the Henry Viscardi School for its "noble" work, but said the parent company, "took advantage of the state's taxpayers." A DiNapoli spokesman said the state would deduct the $835,074, and possibly more, from future aid payments to the school.

The audit "questioned the reasonableness" of $488,269 in Abilities! staff salaries -- aside from the leadership payments -- that were billed to the school. About $36,000 of one worker's salary was allocated to the school, but the auditors said she told them she had not spent any time on school-related activity that year.

However, the audit did not disallow the $488,269 outright, and said the Education Department "should review these costs in detail." The audit covered the two fiscal years ending June 30, 2009.

The school said in a reply included with the audit that the Lexus lease for Abilities! President Edmund Cortez, since retired, was part of his employment contract, and that the current president is responsible for the cost of his own car.

The school said it agreed with some of the findings, but said the billing for leadership and other support services was proper.

"We believe that we have sufficiently documented the expenses submitted to the State Education Department for reimbursement and that those expenses should continue to be reimbursed, as they have been for many years," the school said in a statement.

Other improper billing included $3,532 to rent a catering hall for a retirement party, $4,650 for utilities at four residences on school grounds and $420 for flowers on Administrative Professionals Day, the audit found.

The school, with 203 employees and 187 students, is one of 11 schools in the state for students with physical disabilities funded under Section 4201 of the Education Law. It got about $14 million a year in state funding during the audit period.