By Hank Russell
The Nassau Interim Finance Agency (NIFA) unanimously voted to authorize a $20,045 contract to retain Nawrocki Smith LLP to audit the Office of the County Attorney and examine the sharp increase in outside counsel costs during Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024. The firm will also be tasked with recommending management approvals. The vote was held at its February 13 meeting.
Based in Hauppauge, Nawrocki Smith is a full-service accounting and advisory firm serving individuals, small to mid-size corporations, Fortune 500 companies, local governments, healthcare entities and not-for-profit organizations, according to the website.
According to Legislator and Deputy Minority Leader Arnold W. Drucker (D-Plainview), since the start of the Bruce Blakeman administration, outside counsel costs have ballooned from $6,095,071 in Fiscal Year 2022 and $9,012,173 in Fiscal Year 2023 to $14,555,000 in Fiscal Year 2024.
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) noted that Nassau County far exceeded its budget for outside legal services, approving exorbitant contracts for private law firms — some at rates as high as $1,200 per hour — without required legislative or NIFA approvals.
“Since becoming a Nassau County Legislator in 2016, I have frequently been disappointed by the overreliance upon outside counsel by the County Attorney’s office,” Drucker said. “However, this problem has grown exponentially worse during the Blakeman administration, and taxpayers deserve to know exactly how their hard-earned money is being spent. As outside counsel costs continue to soar at unsustainable rates, I welcome this audit as a tool for implementing policies that can root out waste, restore proper full-time staffing levels at the County Attorney’s office, and ensure that when the County hires outside counsel, we are retaining the most qualified firms strictly on the merits and only when it is absolutely necessary.”
LILP reached out to Blakeman’s office, but did not hear back as of press time.