Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our budget review was to determine whether the significant revenue and expenditure projections in the Village’s proposed budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year are reasonable.

Background

The Village of Hempstead, located in Nassau County, issued debt totaling $4.2 million to liquidate the accumulated deficit in the Village’s general and water funds as of May 31, 2005. Local Finance Law requires all local governments that have been authorized to issue obligations to fund operating deficits to submit their tentative budgets for the next fiscal year to the State Comptroller for review while the deficit obligations are outstanding.

Key Findings

• Based on the results of our review, we found that the significant revenue and expenditure projections in the proposed budget are reasonable.
• The Village’s proposed budget exceeds the allowable tax levy limit.

Key Recommendations

• The Board must adopt a local law overriding the tax levy limit before they adopt the proposed budget