The North Hempstead Town Board meeting Sept. 5 will be the first since Comptroller Kristen Schwaner resigned unexpectedly without giving a reason from the position on Aug. 18 just four months after being appointed.
North Hempstead is currently without a full-time town comptroller and two deputy comptrollers, with one deputy resigning earlier this year in February and the other deputy slot being vacant since January 2022.
Before Schwaner’s appointment, the last full-time comptroller was Tania Orenstein, who resigned in December 2021.
The seven-member town board can vote to appoint a full-time comptroller, an interim one or hire a third party to fill the role’s responsibilities if there is a resolution for it. The resolution for next Tuesday’s meeting will be published on the town’s website Friday, Sept. 1.
The comptroller position oversees operations of the comptroller’s office and is responsible for overseeing the budget process, annual audits and filing annual financial reports, among other things.
North Hempstead’s website currently has job postings for town comptroller and chief deputy comptroller in the comptroller’s office, paying $160,000 a year and $110,000-$120,000 a year, respectively.
Supervisor Jennifer DeSena must submit a tentative budget to the other six members of the board by the end of September. Last year budget hearings were held in October with the final vote to approve held in November prior to Election Day.
This year’s schedule will be set at the Sept. 5 meeting.
Prior to Schwaner’s appointment after an extensive year-long bipartisan search process, Finance Director Paul Wood was appointed as interim comptroller last year ahead of presenting Desena’s $158.4 million tentative budget.
A resolution submitted in December by DeSena, a Republican, to appoint John Morris, a former Smithtown comptroller, was rejected 4-3 along party lines, with Democrats voting against it.
DeSena submitted another resolution appointing Morris to the position in March but withdrew it ahead of the meeting and it was not voted on.
Morris had previously served as treasurer for the Villages of Mastic Beach and Westbury and director of finance for the town under Supervisor May Newburger from 1998 to 2001.
In December, Democrat Mariann Dalimonte cited a Newsday article that reported Morris was not re-hired as the Smithtown comptroller and that council member Robert Creighton said his term “didn’t work out to our satisfaction” before she voted no in December.
Morris told Newsday in March that he lost his Smithtown post for political reasons.
Having a full-time comptroller is also important to the town’s bond rating, DeSena said at previous town board meetings.
North Hempstead this year maintained its Aaa bond rating for the 13th year in a row, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
The organization cited stable financial operations, healthy reserve levels and a strong economic profile for the town while lauding its conservative fiscal management.