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Residents press Hempstead on legal spending; controller explains audit adjustments
Summary
At the Nov. 18 meeting residents questioned transfers and outside‑counsel spending; Controller John Mastro Marino described post‑audit budget adjustments and the town attorney explained litigation expense authority and a raised expert‑hiring threshold from $15,000 to $25,000.
Residents pressed the Town of Hempstead board on Nov. 18 about legal and litigation funding on the administrative calendar, prompting explanations from the town attorney and the controller.
During public comment Joe Cianabolo asked whether roughly $350,000 being moved on the administrative calendar was intended to pay outside counsel and whether any portion paid specific board members. The town attorney replied the item pertains to litigation expenses (examples given: expert witnesses, trial transcripts, medical examiners) and stated that none of the funds referenced relate to the resident's lawsuit. The town attorney repeatedly declined to allocate the sums to particular individuals during the exchange.
Controller John Mastro Marino, responding to a separate public question about item 16, said the resolution reflects adjustments following the town's 2024 audit by its CPA firm. He said the initial budget estimate of $56,000,000 in fund‑balance usage townwide was revised after the audit to approximately $6,000,000, and the resolution lists the revenue and appropriation line‑item adjustments. "After the audit is completed, we are required to go back and adjust, based on the audit, the various revenue and expense accounts throughout the budget," Mastro Marino said.
The town attorney also described a change that increases the town attorney's internal authorization for certain litigation‑related expenditures from $15,000 to $25,000 so the office can hire experts or consultants when necessary without a separate board motion. He said that authority applies only when litigation requires expert testimony or similar services.
The resident's request for an itemized breakdown of payments to specific board members or for confirmation of exact dollar amounts allocated to outside counsel was not satisfied during the meeting; the town attorney advised submitting follow‑up questions or meeting with staff. One number voiced by a resident later in the exchange (a figure that sounded like "103,150,000") appears inconsistent with other statements in the record and should be verified with town financial records.
Board members voted to adopt the administrative calendar (excluding adjourned items 45 and 48) as amended.
The town promised follow‑up: the controller and town attorney were asked to provide additional detail on adjourned items and financial line‑item adjustments.
