Maragos: Temporary Hires Were Excessive

Since 2007, Nassau County has spent more than $2.3 million on hundreds of temporary employees in five county departments, according to a recent audit released by County Comptroller George Maragos.

The report revealed that hundreds of temporary workers were hired in the county's Tax Assessment, Social Services, Assessment Review,  Health and Attorney Office under multiple contracts with a single vendor. From 2007 to 2008, the audit stated, that roughly $2.3 million was spent on these workers and all but one of the five contracts was executed without the approval of the County Legislature. 

Maragos contends that such contracts were unnecessary, especially since the departments had employees who could have completed the work. Maragos, who took office in January after defeating Howard Weitzman last November, said the audit is part of a series of contract reviews that his office is currently completing to cut wasteful spending in the county. 

"From day one, my office has been conducting a comprehensive review of all county contracts in an ongoing effort to reduce expenses," Maragos said in a statement. "We discovered the use of hundreds of unnecessary temporary employees ... In our opinion, the use of temporary employees in many cases was not justified given the work load. These departments were already operating at full-staff."  

The workers, the report stated, were hired under former County Executive Thomas Suozzi's administration, despite claims during election season last year that he had reduced the county workforce. Suozzi, a former mayor of Glen Cove, could not be reached for a comment. 

"Outsourcing work to temp firms while claiming a reduction in county employees is pure trickery," said Legislator Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), the Legislature's presiding officer. "I agree with County Comptroller Maragos' findings." 

Legislator Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove), the Legislature's minority leader, could not be reached for a comment.

The reported also stated that about 100 of these workers were shortchanged in their hourly wage, with underpayment totaling more than $100,000. The workers, county officials said, should have been paid $11 an hour in 2007 and $12.05 an hour in 2008.

Therefore, auditors determined that the temporary agency used, Island Search Group, Inc., was in violation of the county's Living Wage Law for this time period. The legislation, county officials said, establishes wages and benefits to employees who work for a company that is under a county contract.

In response to the audit's findings, Maragos said his office will no longer approve the renewal of all temporary employee contracts, and will ask all departments to "do more with less" during these difficult financial times. The county, auditors said, could save nearly $1 million by not employing these workers. There are roughly 60 temporary employees working for the county, a number is expected to be reduced as the contracts continue to expire. 

"The county departments must understand that taxpayer money cannot be spent needlessly," Maragos said. "We will continue to scrutinize every contract for value and clearly defined performance goals."