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The Nassau County comptroller is set to begin an audit of the North Hempstead building department.
News that the office of County Comptroller Elaine Phillips would conduct the audit comes nearly a month after a request from the North Hempstead town supervisor.
The audit is moving forward after a “careful review of an audit request from Town of North Hempstead (TONH) Supervisor Jennifer DeSenna,” the Office of the Nassau County Comptroller said in a statement.
The audit would “shed sunlight on the problems that truly plague the department,” according to the town in July.
That audit would help the town “rehabilitate the department and improve operations to the benefit of residents and business owners,” according to the town.
The comptroller’s office, in its statement said that it expects that “the process will take approximately one year.”
In 2007, the town was rocked by a building-department scandal whose charges would ultimately involve multiple schemes including bid-rigging, bribery and the theft of $150,000 in public funds. Ex-commissioner David Wasserman and others would later plead guilty.
Officials have worked to revamp the department and its processes in order to ensure that work meets all safety codes. But for many businesses and residents, permitting-process delays persist and are often extensive and costly.
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Image and article originally from libn.com. Read the original article here.