State Responds To Town Board's Call For Audit

The Huntington Town Board, right, is pictured during a meeting last month. (Long Islander News photo/archives)

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

The state comptroller’s office is considering whether or not to audit the Town of Huntington’s finances, policies and procedures.

Last month, in one of the current board’s first actions of 2018, a resolution was approved that requested the audit from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office so that town board members could weigh potential changes.

In a letter received by the Huntington Town Clerk’s Office on Jan. 29, Deputy State Comptroller Gabriel Deyo said DiNapoli received the request and that the information was forwarded to a regional office in Hauppauge.

Deyo said the town’s audit request is currently “under consideration.”

In January, Councilman Eugene Cook, who sponsored the resolution calling for the request, compared the move to that of a new business owner “checking all the records” after taking over a business.

In an interview Wednesday, Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci said the audit is a good opportunity for an outside agency to look at the town’s practices.

“We always welcome any advice or recommendations that the state comptroller’s office has to offer,” Lupinacci said.

Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, who voted against the audit in January, said in a statement Tuesday the audit is unnecessary and a poor use of town funds.

In addition, Cuthbertson said the letter from the comptroller’s office does not mean that the state will carry out the audit. “I am still of the opinion that it is unlikely they will go forward with an audit.”