Scianablo, Residents Call For Comptroller’s Audit

HEMPSTEAD, NY. — Former Hempstead Town Supervisor candidate Joe Scianablo announced that he had requested an audit of the town’s finances Thursday, calling recent practices by the town’s government, “smoke and mirrors” in an address in front of a gaggle of Hempstead residents.

The speakers at Thursday’s address included Scianablo, Leslie Martin and Kelly Johnson, both of whom are Town of Hempstead residents. In their remarks, Martin and Johnson said they were frustrated by a lack of transparency from town officials regarding what the town government was doing with taxpayer money. In his letter to the comptroller's office, Scianablo said that the audit request was coming as a result of a missed filing deadline by the town government.

“Recent developments have raised significant concerns regarding the Town’s fiscal oversight and transparency, most notably, its failure to file the required annual audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024,” Scianablo said in a letter to the comptroller. “On January 9, 2026, the Town issued a Material Event Notice acknowledging that it had missed its legally required filing under its Continuing Disclosure Undertaking related to multiple Town bond obligations.”

On Oct. 17, Ferretti's office announced a 2026 budget that included an 18 percent tax cut in the town's general fund. In her remarks Thursday, Martin claimed that her overall tax payment to the town had gone up despite the tax cut announcement.

“I’m here today as a resident and a taxpayer who simply wants honest answers about how our money is being managed,” Martin said. “We were told taxes were raised by 12 percent, and then, on the eve of the 2025 election, we were told they were lowered by 18 percent,” Martin said. “My personal Town of Hempstead tax levy went from $4,773 in 2025 to $5,178 in 2026, an increase of over $400."

The town, Martin said, had not provided "real relief" but instead was "masking the true cost of government" with the budgetary announcement.

Thursday morning, Scianablo said he hadn’t received any response to the letter from the comptroller’s office. As for what he thought an audit might uncover, Scianablo said he wasn’t sure, claiming that an ongoing lack of transparency from the town had made it difficult to know what an auditor might find if they opened the town's books.

"Government works best when there is transparency, accountability and independent oversight," Martin said. "Residents deserve to know the truth about the town's finances and how decisions are being made."

Tuesday afternoon, the comptroller’s office did not say whether or not it would be taking up another audit of Hempstead’s finances, pointing to five audits done on the town between 2021 and 2022. Those audits covered government spending in budgeting, procurement, compensatory time, vehicle and fuel usage and IT access controls.

“We use a risk assessment process to plan and select entities for audit,” Comptroller’s office Press Secretary Mark Johnson said in an email to Patch Thursday. “We consider a variety of risk factors including, but not limited to, those brought to our attention by residents, local officials and media accounts and reviews of available financial data. We continue to monitor these concerns and consider pertinent information in our risk assessment process.”

As for the audit Scianablo and others had requested, the comptroller's office said that was to be determined.