Stop New York Government Waste

March 24, 2010 at 12:40 pm by Casey Seiler
It’s going to be a fun day at the Capitol for representatives of the Department of Correctional Services, who will spend it getting ranked up one side by Assembly Republicans and down the other side by members of the Senate task force on government waste.

First up was this morning’s news conference by the Assembly GOP, which released its report on “Workplace Issues in the Correctional System.” Briefly summarized, the report casts DOCS as a top-heavy agency that has adjusted the way it counts available beds in order to justify prison closures. The findings further suggest that the state does a poor job of softening the blow of prison closures on the affected communities.

The task force, headed by Assembly members Gary Finch of Springport and Joseph Giglio of Gowanda, held 10 meetings around the state, all of them heavily attended by witness from the state Corrections Officers & Police Benevolent Association. Invitations were issued to DOCS Commissioner Brian Fischer as well as prison reform advocates such as Bob Gangi of the Correctional Association of New York, who chose not to show up for any of the sessions. Neither DOCS nor Gangi was immediately available for a response — probably because they’re attending the Senate task force hearings on the first floor of the Capitol right now.

Update: Gangi said that his decision not to appear at any of the task force’s hearings was prompted by a packed schedule as well as his concern that the panel’s work would “represent the critique of the correctional officers’ union.”

“We were concerned about their agenda and whether it was going to have a particular ideology,” said Gangi, who added that he hasn’t read the report. He said that DOCS was “moving in the right direction” on its closure plans, albeit not quickly enough, and also questioned the contention that the state’s system is overpopulated.

Key findings of the Assembly report, as detailed in the minority conference’s news release:

“The Department of Correctional Services has changed the way it reports “percentage of occupancy data,” maintained unsafe inmate-to-staff ratios, allowed the double bunking of inmates, failed to maintain the required number of Crisis Intervention Personnel and downgraded certain violent incidents by not reporting them as assaults;
“Maintaining prison capacities below 100 percent, ensuring proper staffing ratios, eliminating double bunking and keeping the number of Crisis Intervention Personnel at appropriate levels will reduce serious injuries occurring in state prisons;
“The New York State Commission of Correction should initiate a study to determine the most accurate way of reporting prison capacity statistics, review the current practice of counting temporary, infirmary and special housing unit beds as permanent beds, and establish appropriate inmate-to-officer staffing ratios that will reduce prison violence and the number of “Unusual Incidents”;
“Additionally, the study should verify the necessity of administrative positions based in Albany, evaluate which services and programs the Hubs can administer, determine the scope of responsibilities for each administrator and closely examine state-funded housing and other public benefits allegedly given to superintendents and administrators;
“Administrative personnel at the Department of Correctional Services Control Center provide an overlap of non-essential services. The size of the Department of Correctional Services’ internal administration needs to be right sized accordingly;
“The Department of Correctional Services has not used tax money wisely in its prison closures, adaptive reuse plans or the elimination of prison farm operations. Careful consideration needs to be given toward the development and implementation of a reasonable, three-year reuse plan for facilities that have been closed or are slated for closure; and
“Tailoring a viable reuse plan to an affected local community’s specific needs to make up for the devastating impact of facility closures on local economies and quality of life is of paramount importance. The report also recommends that New York explore moving federal prisoners to state facilities to generate revenue and making effective use of vacant prison farmland.”
Here’s the report:
New York State Assembly Republican Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C-Canandaigua) and Assembly Republican Task Force on Workforce Issues in the Correctional System Co-Chairs Assemblymen Gary D. Finch (R,C,I-Springport) and Joseph M. Giglio (R,I,C-Gowanda), Ranking Republican on the Assembly Committee on Correction, unveiled the Task Force’s final report during a press conference in Albany today.

The lawmakers were joined by their Assembly Republican colleagues, as well as Chris Leo, Legislative Director for the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) and prison staff.

“Few issues are more important than ensuring the collective safety and security of all New Yorkers through the proper supervision of dangerous, incarcerated criminals,” Kolb said. “Our Task Force on Workforce Issues in the Correctional System was established in June of 2009 to gather feedback from the professionals working in New York’s correctional facilities to learn what policymakers could do to increase worker safety, reduce waste and maximize the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”

“New York’s ongoing fiscal crisis and $9.05 billion state budget deficit has put our correctional system – and those working in it – under tremendous personal and financial pressure,” Finch said. “While there is an urgent need to maximize efficiencies and save taxpayer dollars in all areas of state government, this cannot occur at the expense of our correctional system and the personnel who are literally on the front lines of public safety. I am proud to join today with corrections personnel and my Assembly Republican colleagues to put forth reforms that will ensure that every dollar of New York’s corrections budget is utilized effectively.

“The ultimate goal of this Task Force is the creation and implementation of comprehensive legislative initiatives and administrative policies that will keep New York State correctional facilities safe and secure, while ensuring that the Department of Correctional Services utilizes taxpayer dollars and state resources in the best manner possible,” Giglio said.

Kolb chose Co-Chairs Finch and Giglio to lead this important Task Force because of their extensive knowledge about the challenges facing our correctional system. Finch is a former Ranking Republican Member of the Assembly Committee on Correction and Giglio is the current ranker, a former Sheriff’s Department employee and Deputy Inspector General for New York State.

“We are pleased to have our long-held claims of a top heavy administration validated,” said Donn Rowe, President of NYSCOPBA. “This thorough report encompasses ten hearings from across the state where it was illustrated numerous times that DOCS manipulates its data, cuts from the bottom to maintain the top and is creating a system that endangers my members, civilian staff and inmates. We thank the Task Force for taking the time to investigate this very serious matter and hope the public is now more aware of the state’s prison system.”

The Task Force held 10 public forums in Albany, Alden, Auburn, Comstock, Fishkill, Gouverneur, Malone, New Windsor and Verona throughout the summer and fall of 2009. The forums focused on exploring ways to improve safety and enhance efficiency within state prisons.
Task Force members heard testimony from rank-and-file officers, medical personnel, educators, counselors, along with members of NYSCOPBA, CSEA and PEF who are charged with the day-to-day operational responsibility of keeping our correctional facilities safe and secure. Numerous invitations were extended to State Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Brian Fischer and other administration officials, who, unfortunately, chose not to testify.

Key findings of the report include the following:

• The Department of Correctional Services has changed the way it reports “percentage of occupancy data,” maintained unsafe inmate-to-staff ratios, allowed the double bunking of inmates, failed to maintain the required number of Crisis Intervention Personnel and downgraded certain violent incidents by not reporting them as assaults;

• Maintaining prison capacities below 100 percent, ensuring proper staffing ratios, eliminating double bunking and keeping the number of Crisis Intervention Personnel at appropriate levels will reduce serious injuries occurring in state prisons;

• The New York State Commission of Correction should initiate a study to determine the most accurate way of reporting prison capacity statistics, review the current practice of counting temporary, infirmary and special housing unit beds as permanent beds, and establish appropriate inmate-to-officer staffing ratios that will reduce prison violence and the number of “Unusual Incidents”;

• Additionally, the study should verify the necessity of administrative positions based in Albany, evaluate which services and programs the Hubs can administer, determine the scope of responsibilities for each administrator and closely examine state-funded housing and other public benefits allegedly given to superintendents and administrators;

• Administrative personnel at the Department of Correctional Services Control Center provide an overlap of non-essential services. The size of the Department of Correctional Services’ internal administration needs to be right sized accordingly;

• The Department of Correctional Services has not used tax money wisely in its prison closures, adaptive reuse plans or the elimination of prison farm operations. Careful consideration needs to be given toward the development and implementation of a reasonable, three-year reuse plan for facilities that have been closed or are slated for closure; and

• Tailoring a viable reuse plan to an affected local community’s specific needs to make up for the devastating impact of facility closures on local economies and quality of life is of paramount importance. The report also recommends that New York explore moving federal prisoners to state facilities to generate revenue and making effective use of vacant prison farmland.

The Assembly Republican Task Force on Workforce Issues in the Correctional System will submit its report and specific recommendations to Governor David Paterson, the State Legislature, the New York State Department of Correctional Services and the New York State Commission of Correction for their review and input.

By FREDRIC U. DICKER State Editor

Last Updated: 4:31 AM, March 24, 2010

Posted: 2:59 AM, March 24, 2010

ALBANY — Democrats in the state Senate are up for sale — and they don’t come cheap!

The Capitol’s scandalous “pay to play” culture descended to a new low as Democratic lawmakers told top labor leaders that they would have to pony up $50,000 each in donations if they want special access, The Post has learned.

In a shocking letter to union bosses who are battling state budget cuts, state Sen. Jeff Klein of The Bronx offered to sell them “chairmanships” on a newly created “Labor Advisory Council.”

“Advisory Council chairs will have the unique opportunity to advise the Senate Dems on the structure and focus of the Labor Advisory Council,” says the letter from Klein, chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

“In addition to all meetings, conferences and events that are included with Advisory Council membership, the advisory chairs will be invited to an exclusive meeting with the Senate majority leaders,” the letter states.

It also promises that Advisory Council members “will actively participate in the essential policy conversations that help construct our 2010 campaign strategy.”

All state lawmakers are up for re-election this year, and the Democrats’ narrow control of the state Senate hangs in the balance.

For labor leaders unwilling to kick in $50,000, Klein offered a second-tier “general membership” at $25,000 apiece.

“This is ‘pay to play’ run amok,” said a longtime Democratic activist. “In the current climate of Albany as an ethical cesspool, how could they be so blatant?”

Klein’s pitch for contributions stunned New York Public Interest Research Group Legislative Director Blair Horner.

“Wow, it’s rare to see something so brazen where the Senate leadership is giving unique access to powerful interest groups for $50,000 each, giving them a seat at the table that no one else gets,” Horner said.

Klein’s letter was sent as Senate Democrats hinted they might be willing to drop their support for $2 billion in state education aid and health care cuts that are strongly opposed by the teachers and health care workers unions.

One labor leader who received the letter called it “a little crazy.”

A Senate Republican spokesman charged that Klein arranged for the Democrats to slash an additional $180 million from the budget that would have gone to unionized state workers just as his letter was being sent on Monday.

The cuts would come in the form of a $100 million reduction in state worker overtime and $80 million worth of state “work force actions” such as layoffs or attrition, both of which reduce labor union dues, according to documents supplied by the Senate GOP.

Senate Republicans accused Klein of telling labor leaders, “Pay up if you want that spending back.”

“It sure looks like a shakedown,” said GOP spokesman John McArdle.

Klein said the letter was “a fund-raising tool” but conceded it would give the labor leaders “an opportunity to have face time with the leadership” of the Senate.

He denied having altered the Democratic budget plan to put more pressure on the unions to give, but said he had canceled a meeting in Albany promised to donors who gave $25,000.

State law permits the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee to accept contributions of as much as $94,200, while individual lawmakers can collect top donations of $9,500.

By ISABEL VINCENT and MELISSA KLEIN

Last Updated: 11:40 AM, March 7, 2010

Posted: 3:42 AM, March 7, 2010

Queens Assemblywoman Barbara Clark has steered hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to a charity she helped found, which spends a large portion of the money on rent, salaries, office expenses and tax penalties while operating as a vague “referral center.”

The Community Care Development Project, which has taken in more than $1.9 million in city and state money since 1996, is supposed to help residents “avoid the bureaucratic obstacles which prevent them receiving immediate services.”

That’s the same help constituents can get at Clark’s district office — located only three doors down from the charity on Springfield Boulevard in Queens Village.

The lone employee at the referral center last week sent a reporter seeking help in finding a nursing home for a family member to Clark’s office, saying the group did not provide that service.

Community Care acts as an intermediary in handing out taxpayer money to groups including the New York Junior Tennis League and Kickers Youth Sports Association as well as public schools, churches and Little Leagues.

Clark sponsored at least $481,500 in member-item money to Community Care from 2006 to 2009, with $209,500 going out to other organizations. The rest was used for salaries and office expenses.

Lisa Bang-Jensen, a senior policy analyst at the Empire Center for New York State Policy in Albany, said such pork-barrel spending should be eliminated because there is no transparency.

“There’s no way for the public to know where the money’s going,” she said.

Clark, a Democrat who has been in office since 1987, said she founded the organization in 1989 to help immigrants in her district get public resources and services.

She said that the group’s mission did not duplicate her own and that she was prevented from giving member-item money directly to organizations that did not have tax-exempt status.

She also said it was easier for small groups to apply for money through Community Care rather than through the state directly.

In fact, there is no rule saying member items need to go to registered charities as long as the cash is spent for a public purpose, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

And Clark has funneled member items directly to the same Queens groups that were funded indirectly by Community Care, The Post found.

The New York Junior Tennis League, for instance, received $1,000 from Community Care in the 2008 fiscal year and then $1,000 directly from the state, thanks to Clark, in fiscal 2009 and again in fiscal 2010.

The Harvest Life Center in Cambria Heights, a youth organization, received $5,000 from Community Care in ‘08 and then $5,000 from Clark the next two fiscal years.

A review of Community Care’s tax forms and state documents also found:

* Lawyer Mortimer Lawrence was among its founding members and served on the charity’s board and as its paid executive director from 2004 to 2006.

Lawrence was also involved in another Queens charity, New Direction Local Development Corp., which is under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office after The Post revealed its lack of spending on community causes.

Community Care paid Lawrence $9,425 as a former board member in 2007, the same year he went to work for state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) as his chief of staff, earning $150,409.

* The group paid $81,597 in tax penalties from 2000 to 2005. Clark said the money was for late tax filings.

* It spent $1,700 for flowers in 2003 while paltry amounts went to the needy, including $375 for deliveries to shut-ins and $880 for “senior entertainment.” It gave $37,202 to community groups that year, but does not name them.

Community Care took in $1.86 million in state funds from 1996 to 2009 and also received a $125,000 grant from 1997 to 2000 from the city as part of a program to fight poverty.

Clark, who said she wasn’t involved in Community Care’s day-to-day operations, admitted the charity’s books were in disarray and blamed its former accountant, Jeffrey Richardson of Manhattan. He did not return calls for comment.

Shirley Alexander, the charity’s executive director, said the organization helped about 500 people a year in getting social services.

By ISABEL VINCENT and MELISSA KLEIN

Last Updated: 12:27 PM, February 2, 2010

Posted: 4:04 AM, January 31, 2010

State Sen. Malcolm Smith and Congressman Gregory Meeks have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars, including taxpayer money, into a charity led by their spouses and cronies — an organization with almost no accountability on its spending.

Smith and Meeks, both Democrats, have championed New Direction Local Development Corp., a group based in their Queens districts that claims its mission is community development “in Far Rockaway and surrounding areas.”

What, if any, community development it fostered is unclear. Only a few programs are detailed on the charity’s tax filings, including money given to a senior-appreciation week, for a basketball and jump-rope tournament, a “family day” and a donation to Toys for Tots.

QUEENS CRONIES’ HORSE POWER

But it did spend $11,783 for meals and entertainment and $9,004 in federal tax penalties in 2007.

Smith, who became temporary Senate president after being ousted as majority leader last year, tried to funnel at least $105,000 in pork-barrel money to New Direction beginning in 2001, The Post has learned.

The latest so-called member item was a $15,000 grant to New Direction in the 2007-08 fiscal year, a time when the charity owed money to the IRS for tax penalties.

There is no record of the grant being paid, but state records show $56,500 went to the nonprofit from 2001 to 2006.

“This raises important issues about whether this charity is acting in the public’s interests or someone’s political interests,” said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

The charity’s biggest boost was a $250,000 contribution in 2004 from International Airport Centers, the developer of a giant cargo facility near Kennedy Airport.

Smith, Meeks and City Councilman James Sanders (D-Queens) were credited in news reports for brokering the deal with the developer to donate for community programs.

Smith was the one who suggested New Direction get the cash, according to a source familiar with the deal.

That same year, the charity reported total revenue of $272,480. But it spent just $100,736 on programs, including $80,870 in grants, according to its tax forms. Nearly $150,000 remains unaccounted for.

The organization did not identify who received the grants or how it was spending the rest of the money.

Nonprofits are required to reveal on tax forms which organizations they give grants to, said expert Bennett Weiner of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance.

Fred Kress, former head of the Rosedale Civic Association, said he was hoping his group would receive some of the windfall, but never got any cash. He said he was unaware of any initiatives New Direction had accomplished.

Smith’s spokesman, Austin Shafran, denied the senator had anything to do with the $250,000 contribution or with the charity itself, beyond helping establish it. He brushed off Smith’s member items that funded New Direction, saying the senator appropriated money to many community groups.

But public records show strong ties between Smith and New Direction.

The group’s Web site says it was founded in February 2001 by “the initiatives of Congressman Gregory Meeks and Sen. Malcolm Smith.” Meeks and Smith are close political allies and protégés of the Rev. Floyd Flake, a former congressman whose district Meeks now represents.

State papers show that New Direction was actually incorporated a year earlier and that Smith’s wife, Michele, was a founding board member. Also on the initial board was Cathy Greene, the wife of Darryl Greene, Smith’s former business partner. From 2002 to 2008, the charity’s address was in the same Queens office as Joan Flowers, an attorney who worked as campaign treasurer for both Smith and Meeks.

The group’s mission is community development and to “preserve, renovate, rehabilitate and beautify neighborhoods” in Queens.

State money began to flow to New Direction in 2001. The charity received $17,000 that year — taxpayer money designated by Smith in a member item for the organization’s startup costs, according to the Empire State Development agency.

Smith was also involved in a New Direction initiative to help families affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The group started an appeal called New Yorkers Organized to Assist Hurricane Families, or NOAH-F. Its Web site asks donors to send their money to Smith, Meeks or Assemblywoman Barbara Clark.

Two donos listed in tax filings as contributing to New Direction that year said they actually gave money to the Katrina effort. One was the Rent Stabilization Association of New York, which said it made a $5,000 contribution after receiving an appeal from Smith. The Hindu Temple Society in Queens gave a $10,000 contribution.

There is no evidence the money ever made it to Katrina victims. The only mention on the charity’s tax forms is a $1,392 grant paid in 2006 for “hurricane victim expense.”

That same year, Meeks for Congress reported giving two $5,000 donations to NOAH-F. In 2006, records show it canceled one of the contributions.

Meeks’ office did not respond to requests for comment about the charity.

The Rev. Edwin Reed, the charity’s treasurer, told The Post he could not remember how donations were spent.

“I can’t recall any details,” said Reed, chief financial officer for the development arm of Flake’s church in Jamaica.

Claude Stuart, who was brought on as the charity’s director at Smith’s behest in 2006, told The Post he advised the charity to revamp its board or disband. Stuart, a former policy adviser to Gov. Paterson, would not say why.

In 2007, New Direction paid fines to the IRS for late filings of its tax returns, according to the charity’s accountant, James Lee.

By 2008, New Direction was moribund, listing its only expense as $800 paid in consulting fees and a $10 bank service charge. It had $55,254 in the bank at the end of the year.

Stuart said the group is in the process of disbanding.

Unknown ‘Direction’

Two city politicians have close ties to a mysterious Queens nonprofit

* New Direction Local Development Corp. incorporates in February 2000. The group’s Web site says it was started by the initiatives of state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Congressman Gregory Meeks.

* Initial board members include Smith’s wife, Michele, and Cathy Greene, wife of Smith’s former business partner, Darryl Greene.

* Smith authorizes his first “member item” for the charity, a $17,000 grant, in September 2001 for start-up costs. The charity spends $38,700 out of the $57,050 it takes in on “consultants.”

* In 2004, Smith and Meeks help arrange for a Queens developer to donate $250,000 to New Direction, which is to distribute the money. New Direction reports that it spent $100,736 on programs, including giving out $80,870 in grants, but provides no details. The other $150,000 remains unaccounted for.

* In 2005, New Direction solicits donations to help Hurricane Katrina families. Meeks gives

$10,000 through his political action committee, Meeks for Congress. The next year, he takes back $5,000 of that money. Despite getting at least $15,000 from other contributors, just $1,392 is listed as helping hurricane victims, the only time the charity details its Katrina aid.

* In 2007, Smith authorizes a $15,000 member item to New Direction. The charity pays $9,004 in penalties to the IRS for late filing. It spends little on programs, and the biggest expenditure listed is $11,783 for meals and entertainment.

* In 2008, the group spends just $810 on consulting and professional fees and a bank service charge. It has $55,254 in the bank; the charity’s director says hedoesn’t know if that money has ever been spent.

By BRENDAN SCOTT, Post Correspondent

Last Updated: 8:52 AM, April 1, 2010

Posted: 3:00 AM, April 1, 2010

By CARL CAMPANILE

Last Updated: 5:35 PM, April 6, 2010

Posted: 3:26 AM, April 6, 2010

By FREDRIC U. DICKER
The New York Post

Gov. Paterson’s security detail has been doubled in the last year for what are being called “political” reasons, and is now bigger than the entire State Police force patrolling Long Island, troopers have told The Post.

“The governor wants to have an entourage — three or four cars — wherever he goes because he thinks it makes him look more gubernatorial, it helps him politically,” contended a senior official with firsthand knowledge of the situation.

Thomas Mungeer, president of the State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said that while Paterson has been cutting the State Police because of Albany’s worsening budget crisis, he’s been increasing protection for himself.

“Despite the inadequate manpower due to attrition and requests for help by municipalities, the governor has reassigned road troopers to the detail assigned to protect him and his entourage, increasing the size of that detail to more than 200 members,” according to Mungeer.

“The governor and the leaders of the State Police would never publicly admit that this agency is understaffed, but we’re here to tell you what they won’t,” continued Mungeer, who plans to accuse Paterson in a statement today of “disregarding public safety.”

Paterson’s security force has grown from approximately 100 officers to over 200 since he took office in March 2008, a PBA official said.

“They’ve taken what had been an elite, highly sought-after position and made it into a detail where people are actually being drafted into it who don’t want to go,” PBA spokesman Gordon Warnock continued.

“It’s ridiculous that when we only have 150 troopers patrolling all of Long Island, he has over 200 troopers assigned to him. It’s really amazing,” Warnock continued.

“We understand the difficult economic situation. We’re not blind to it.” Warnock said. “It’s just that if the governor has to make cuts, he has to do them intelligently.”

Paterson spokesman Peter Kauffmann contended the size of the governor’s security detail had been “cut down significantly from [former Gov. George] Pataki levels,” although he conceded that it “was expanded” under Paterson after Gov. Eliot Spitzer left office.

He said the PBA was one of a number of special interests “trying to score political points against the governor for making the tough calls — special interests whose appetite for increased spending is responsible in part for the state’s fiscal crisis.”

The Post disclosed in August 2008 that Paterson had added 45 troopers to his security detail even as he had begun to warn that the state’s budget was seriously out of balance.

Officials at the time said that State Police Supt. Harry Corbett — whom Paterson picked to replace Spitzer’s scandal-scarred top cop, Preston Felton — had concluded the new governor lacked proper security.

Spitzer reduced his security detail to about 150 from the record-high 200 favored by his predecessor, Pataki, who traveled with carloads of State Police, some armed with submachine guns.

Former aides to Gov. Mario Cuomo said the Democrat who preceded Pataki usually traveled with just two or three bodyguards.

A September report issued by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the former governor’s son, concluded that political interference and favoritism had been rampant for over a decade within the upper ranks of the State Police.

It also found that Corbett improperly assigned State Police drivers and bodyguards to Charles O’Byrne, Paterson’s former chief of staff, who was forced to resign after The Post disclosed that he failed to pay state income taxes for five consecutive years.

BY Kenneth Lovett
NY DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

ALBANY – The state university system is rife with sky-high overtime, a bloated campus police force and wasteful spending, a new report says.

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Jeffrey Klein, who commissioned the report, said it shows the Paterson administration has not done enough to rein in state agency spending before trying to cut school and health care spending.

“Clearly when we’re asking New Yorkers each and every day to tighten their belt, the state government is not doing the same,” he said.

The SUNY report, which Klein said is the first in a series to highlight waste at state agencies, found the system paid out $41.6million in overtime in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

SUNY has spent $29.9 million in OT through November of this fiscal year, which ends March 31.

That means SUNY stands to exceed last year’s total, while most other agencies have cut overtime.

In one case, Farmingdale College last year paid out a whopping $134,540 in combined overtime to the supervisor of grounds and two grounds workers. The OT actually topped the $112,519 the three earn in combined base pay.

SUNY has 28 different campus police departments, each one with its own administrators, requisition policies, guidelines and even uniforms and insignias.

The report shows that there are 27 different police chiefs and 20 more deputy or assistant police chiefs on the SUNY payroll, making a combined $4.4 million. A host of them make more than $100,000 a year.

The report said the head of the campus police union estimates that consolidation of the SUNY police system could save the state $3 million.

SUNY spokesman David Belsky said new Chancellor Nancy Zimpher is trying to develop a system-wide plan to cut costs “through greater innovation and reduced bureaucracy.”

SUNY “sees its strategic planning process as an opportunity to gather information about its assets and resources, and to generate ideas that will help us align those resources with the economic needs of our state,” Belsky said.

He noted the system since April 2008 has lost more than $424 million in state subsidies despite boasting thousands of more students.

Audit shows taxi cab bill among abuses of health care system for indigent

By CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY, Staff writer
From The Albany Times Union

A Dutchess County woman took a daily $300 taxi ride to visit her son in Albany for three years — and taxpayers picked up the tab.

The $196,000 cab bill was just one example of $169 million misspent by Medicaid, according to state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who released three audits Tuesday on the public system that pays for the health care for the state’s poor and disabled.

Medicaid, which is funded federal, state and county money, spends $45 billion a year. DiNapoli’s auditors identified overpayments, billing errors, administrative mistakes and abuse. Some of the problems have been cited yearly by the auditors but have not been fixed by the state Department of Health, which oversees the program, DiNapoli said.

“We found the state Medicaid system is leaking millions of dollars,” DiNapoli said. “Safeguards designed to protect the taxpayers by detecting waste, fraud and abuse keep failing.”

Problems the auditors found include:

$53 million in overpayments for Medicaid recipients who had more than one identification number.

$20 million that was nearly spent because of a clerical error. A reimbursement rate for a mental health provider was erroneously changed from $147 to $15,151 – instead of $151 — and the DOH computer system did not catch the mistake. Auditors found the error and notified the DOH before any payments had been made under the higher reimbursement rate.

$5.4 million in overpayments to 10 hospitals that billed for discharging a patient when, in fact, the patient had been transferred to another facility. Hospitals receive higher payments for discharges rather than transfers.

$1.2 million was paid for services that were not medically necessary or not provided, like the cab rides for the Poughkeepsie woman. She took a taxi five days a week to visit her child at St. Margaret’s Center, an Albany nursing home for disabled children.

Medicaid pays to transport enrollees to medical appointments and medically required care, but auditors said these rides were not necessary.

The DOH defended Dutchess County’s approval of the rides. According to the DOH’s statement attached to the comptroller’s audit, the woman’s child was a patient at the St. Mary’s Rehabilitation Center for Children in Queens. When the child was transferred to St. Margaret’s Center in Albany in 2004, St. Mary’s sent a letter to the Albany facility “stressing the importance of the mother’s involvement in the child’s care.”

“Based on this opinion, the Dutchess County Department of Social Services approved the mother’s transportation between Poughkeepsie and Albany in order for her to continue to participate in ongoing training/education specific to the child’s care,” the DOH said.

The cab rides kept going for three years.

When contacted by the auditors, St. Mary’s said the mother’s trips were not “medically necessary” and Dutchess County stopped paying for the trips in April of this year.

Dutchess County officials acted in accordance with Medicaid rules “by following the directions provided by the patient’s rehabilitation center which recommended parental transportation be provided for the mother,” said a statement from Peter Simon, director of administrative services for the county social services department.

The auditors also found 25,950 Medicaid recipients with more than one identification number because residents who applied for multiple types of services, like cash assistance, food stamps and fuel assistance, were sometimes assigned multiple identification numbers.

Local officials did not check the state’s Welfare Management System to see if the individuals already had identification numbers, the audit said.

In some cases the state paid two premiums on behalf of one Medicaid patient to managed care plans that cover the Medicaid enrollees. In other cases the state paid one premium but also paid for hospital services that should have been paid by the managed care plan.

The DOH said it would attempt to recover $2.4 million from individual managed care plans that billed twice for the same patient, but would not attempt to take money when two or more plans were involved.

“According to department officials, it cannot be readily determined which provider to recover payment from,” the audit said.

“Not all claims are as simple as the comptroller portrays them, and the route to recoup the funds is likewise complex,” said the DOH in a statement. “Nevertheless, we appreciate the auditors’ efforts to identify improvements.”

The DOH noted issues identified by the auditors make up less than 1 percent of Medicaid claims.

From WXXI
ALBANY, NEW YORK (WXXI) – The State Comptroller has found close to $100 million dollars in Medicaid fraud, through a series of audits. Tom DiNapoli says more needs to be done to combat waste in the system, especially during tight economic times.

Comptroller DiNapoli says three separate audits uncovered a number of mistakes in Medicaid payments that needlessly cost taxpayers $92 million dollars.

“We’re all scrambling for precious resources and very limited dollars,” said DiNapoli, who said Medicaid serves a “very important purpose”.

“We need to just have a much tighter administration of this program so that no money is wasted,” said DiNapoli.

About half of the overpayments came from nearly 26,000 Medicaid recipients who had more than one Medicaid identification number, which resulted in separate providers collecting duplicate payments for health services. Other errors stemmed from improper processing, and one case involved a Poughkeepsie woman who collected $1500 a week for taxi service to and from Albany, for a total of $196,000 to visit her child in a nursing home, a service that DiNapoli says was not deemed medically necessary.

DiNapoli says he is not recommending criminal charges in any of the cases. But the comptroller says he was frustrated when the health department told him that they could only collect 5% of the mistaken payments. DiNapoli says there needs to be better mechanisms in place for reclaiming the fraudulent funds.

“It underscores the need for the department to fix the leaks in the Medicaid system,” he said.

In response, the state Health Department says it intends to tighten it’s procedures to ensure that fewer recipients get multiple ID numbers, and will offer better guidance to county social service departments on what types of Medicaid charges are and are not appropriate.

Based on his auditors’ research, DiNapoli says he thinks there may be even more money wasted in the Medicaid system, he says the Attorney General’s office and Medicaid Inspector General have also uncovered millions of dollars in fraud.

DiNapoli’s announcement comes as the Comptroller continues to monitor the state’s precarious finances on a daily basis. He says, because of Governor David Paterson’s decision to withhold some partial payments, the state should squeak by December without going broke.

“The state will not go out of business and we will not be bankrupt,” said DiNapoli, who said the money is being managed “very tightly”, to keep a positive balance on December 31.

And DiNapoli says the danger doesn’t end with this year. He says January tax collections will likely be even lower than expected, and the state could face more cash flow problems in the coming months.