Lipp named to head Suffolk budget review office

A legislative search committee has unanimously recommended Robert Lipp over 83 other contenders to head the Suffolk budget review office.

Lipp, 62, of St. James, is currently the office’s acting director and has been its deputy director for the last seven years. In all, he has spent 28 years working for the legislative budget unit.

Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) said Lipp’s longtime experience with the county budget and recent doctorate in economics is what won him the job. “That impressed us,” Lindsay said.

Legis. Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon), deputy presiding officer, said Lipp’s selection had bipartisan support, adding, “He has certainly shown he is a master of the county budget process.”

Lipp replaces Gail Vizzini, who left the post earlier this year to become Suffolk County Community College’s vice president of financial affairs. Lipp, whose appointment needs confirmation by the full legislature, will serve the remaining 3 1/2 years of Vizzini’s four-year term, Horsley said.