Hempstead Sanitary District 1 says issues in state audit are resolved

Officials with Hempstead Sanitary District No. 1 in the Five Towns say they have cut perks and fixed accounting errors after a state comptroller’s report flagged the district for paying out unauthorized sick and vacation time.

In a report released Wednesday, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office said the district did not enforce its own labor contracts and improperly paid nine employees a total of $86,704 for 260 unused sick and vacation days. The district also paid an additional $85,807 to seven employees for 250 days that were not deducted from balances maintained by the district.

The audit covered the district for the 2014 calendar year, during which it spent $19.4 million on expenditures primarily funded by property taxes.

The district provides trash and recycling pickup for about 18,000 homes. The district also has outside contracts, including recycling disposal for Long Beach.

In response, district officials say the majority of the audit’s findings were based on what they described as clerical errors, adding that no taxpayer funds were improperly spent or are unaccounted for.

The district’s five-member Sanitation Commission board has placed its treasurer on probation for accounting errors and is now conducting an internal audit, district chairman James J. Vilardi said.

“The comptroller’s office believed the board was not fully informed of our financial status, but this audit proves the opposite,” Vilardi said. “These were all clerical errors. None of this money is missing, it was just not deducted.”

District officials and the comptroller’s office disagreed over the language in the district’s union contract relating to the payment of deferred time.

District officials said the payout saves the district money by stopping the maximum payout of 200 days in order to pay out employees at a lower rate. One employee repaid $4,928 in sick days upon retirement, officials said.

Commissioners have reduced the district’s staff from about 90 full-time workers to about 60 full-time and 20 part-time workers, Vilardi said.

The state audit also said the district did not adequately monitor life insurance and benefits, leading to an unnecessary $2,430 payment for a commissioner’s life insurance coverage.

District officials said they’ve repaid that amount.

Vilardi said the district’s 2015 audit is on schedule and reports are being filed regularly. The district has also eliminated some executive positions and cut perks like travel and cellphones.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.