HEVESI AIDE EYED BY FRAUD SQUAD
By KENNETH LOVETT, New York Post

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November 25, 2006 -- ALBANY - The Albany County district attorney's criminal probe into Comptroller Alan Hevesi has been expanded to include his top lieutenant, who is suspected of providing a round-the-clock, state-paid chauffeur to former "Mod Squad" star Peggy Lipton, The Post has learned.

"It's getting much larger," said a source with direct knowledge of the investigation. "It's been expanded past the comptroller."

District Attorney David Soares' public-integrity unit is formally investigating whether Hevesi Chief of Staff Jack Chartier violated the law in providing a state-employed driver to Lipton, who was battling colon cancer at the time, the source said.

"The Peggy Lipton stuff is weird," the source said. "He gave her 24-hour chauffeuring for like a year. He really loved her."

Sources had previously told The Post that Chartier not only provided a driver to take Lipton for chemotherapy, but also chauffeured her around to stores, the hairdresser, the doctor and the airport.

Hevesi, whom Soares is investigating for providing a state-paid driver to his wife, told The Post last month that Chartier was a "close friend" of Lipton's and that it was "logical" he'd help her. Hevesi's staff, though, admitted the use of a state-paid driver for such errands was "inappropriate."

David Neustadt, a spokesman for the comptroller's office, yesterday wouldn't comment on the investigation or answer whether Chartier has repaid the state any money for the Lipton driver.

Calls to Lipton were not returned. She is not accused of any wrongdoing.

As the probe into Hevesi and his office grows, Soares has reached out to state police for assistance because of staffing limitations in his office, the law-enforcement source said.

Subpoenas have been issued in the case and the DA's office has already interviewed Hevesi, the source said.

Soares began presenting the case against Hevesi to a grand jury last month, just weeks before the comptroller easily won re-election.

Soares spokeswoman Rachel McEneny-Spencer wouldn't comment on the specifics of the investigation, but stressed its timetable won't be impacted by separate probes initiated by the offices of Gov. Pataki and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is the governor elect and is said to want Hevesi gone.

"Whatever Pataki is doing or Spitzer is doing doesn't affect our criminal investigation or our timeline," she said. "We're not going to allow that to happen."

The state Ethics Commission last month determined that Hevesi "knowingly and intentionally" violated the law by using a state worker to chauffeur his sick wife.

kenneth.lovett@nypost.com

Ethics Commission says Hevesi violated state law
10/24/2006, 12:02 a.m. ET
By MARK JOHNSON
The Associated Press
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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — State Comptroller Alan Hevesi could be removed from office after decades of public service following a state Ethics Commission report that he used two state employees to chauffeur his wife and showed no intention of repaying the state.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said the Senate would review the report which he said raised "some very troubling issues and concerns" while other Republicans were calling for Hevesi's resignation. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, said he was reviewing the report.

Bruno said the state's public officers' law states that the comptroller or attorney general may be removed from office by a two-thirds vote of the Senate on the recommendation of the governor.

However, the state constitution also says impeachment proceedings may start in the Assembly and then go to the Senate for a trial. Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco said he will push for impeachment if Hevesi doesn't resign.

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office said the next steps aren't yet clear because "we're in uncharted territory here," said Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp. Spitzer opened a separate investigation Monday to determine how much Hevesi owed the state and would then seek that amount through a lawsuit if necessary.

The issue first surfaced when Republican candidate J. Christopher Callaghan reported the practice to the state's fraud and waste tip line, established by Hevesi.

It was the first time the Ethics Commission's has sent such a report to the Legislature since its creation in 1987, commission spokesman Walter Ayres said.

After Monday's ruling, Hevesi could face a fine, suspension or removal from office. Ayres said the legislature, where Hevesi served for 22 years, would determine the penalty.

Democrats said they would wait for all the facts before making any decisions, citing another investigation into the matter by Albany County District Attorney David Soares. He declined comment on the commission's report, citing his office's continuing investigation.

Hevesi, seeking a second four-year term as the state's chief financial officer, acknowledged last month that he had not paid the state for use of the driver since 2003. Hevesi later apologized publicly and paid $82,688 for the worker's service.

In its 26-page report, the commission said Hevesi apparently had no intention of repaying the state for using a staffer to chauffeur his wife, even though a 2003 opinion by the panel said he should. When he did settle up, the nearly $83,000 payment was likely too little, the commission said.

Hevesi and his wife reported income of $335,065 last year including his salary and state and city pensions.

The commission faulted Hevesi for not tracking the employee's time and also noted that he had assigned another state driver for his wife even before seeking permission.

"While I obviously do not agree with all of the Ethics Commission's conclusions ... its sending the matter to the Legislature was expected and is understandable," Hevesi said in a statement. "I made a mistake. I am deeply sorry. I offer no excuses. I will continue to cooperate fully with any inquiry. I ask New Yorkers for their understanding and hope they will judge me on the basis of my performance as comptroller and my 35-year record of public service."

The Queens Democrat, who also faces a criminal probe by Albany County District Attorney David Soares, paid up only after Callaghan went public with the issue.

There were immediate calls for Hevesi's resignation, which he rejected.

Hevesi's story is "pretty much a lie," Callaghan said Monday. "He should resign today. This is not a hard conclusion to arrive at."

Recent polls show Hevesi leading Callaghan by a wide margin, even though a majority of likely voters say Hevesi acted unethically.

The state Republican Committee donated $25,000 to the underfunded Callaghan campaign minutes after the Ethics Commission report was made public and then started staffing the phones, said party spokesman Ryan Moses. The party hopes to get a television ad blitz running statewide.

Still, Maurice Carroll of the Qunnipiac University Polling Institute, said Hevesi would still probably prevail in the November election.

The employee who was driving Carol Hevesi did the same job for her husband when he was New York City comptroller. Hevesi wound up paying back about $6,000 to the city.

Carol Hevesi has suffered for years from numerous ailments, according to the letter Hevesi sent the Ethics Commission in 2003 seeking an opinion about assigning her a driver.

Hevesi also said he was concerned about security for his wife because of threats from his time as city comptroller, but a state police report in 2003 stated there was little threat to Carol Hevesi's safety from others.

The commission noted in its ruling that Carol Hevesi's chauffeur had no security training and was "simply a driver and companion for Mrs. Hevesi."

On the Net:

J. Christopher Callaghan

New York State Comptroller's Office

Copyright 2006 syracuse.com. All Rights Reserved.

ALAN A BOOK$ WORM: PROBE
By FREDRIC U. DICKER, NY POST

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October 24, 2006 -- ALBANY - State Comptroller Alan Hevesi "knowingly and intentionally" broke the law by using a state worker to chauffeur his wife, tried to justify the action by falsely claiming her life was in danger, and never planned to reimburse the state, a bombshell ethics reports yesterday found.

The State Ethics Commission, in a scathing and unprecedented finding involving a top state elected official, immediately forwarded its report to the leaders of the state Legislature, which has the power to begin an action of impeachment to remove Hevesi from office.

"The Commission concludes that there is reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Hevesi knowingly and intentionally used his position as Comptroller to secure unwarranted privileges for himself and his wife, and in doing so, pursued a course of conduct that raises suspicion among the public that he likely engaged in acts that violated the public trust," the commission said in a detailed 26-page report.

The panel found that there was no evidence to back up Hevesi's repeated claims that his wife, Carol, needed the chauffeur because of threats to her security.

"There were no threats of any kind to Mrs. Hevesi and any threats to Mr. Hevesi, to the extent that they existed, did not warrant special protection for Mrs. Hevesi," the commission said.

The commission also concluded that the nearly $83,000 recently paid by Hevesi to reimburse the state - after the matter was brought to light by Hevesi's GOP opponent, Chris Callaghan - for the services of $61,000-a-year driver Nicholas Acquafredda was inadequate for the costs incurred.

That finding prompted Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the front-running Democratic candidate for governor, to announce the start of his own investigation into Hevesi's repayment to the state.

"I have directed my office to undertake an inquiry to determine what amount might be owed to the state and then recover those amounts throughout litigation, if warranted," Spitzer said.

Asked about the commission's finding last night, Acquafredda said, "No comment."

Spitzer also said he would recuse himself from the investigation because he has endorsed Hevesi for re-election. He added that the probe "will be overseen by the first deputy attorney general."

The Ethics Commission, headed by Paul Shechtman, a one-time top aide to Republican Gov. Pataki, said Hevesi's failure to maintain any records of Acquafredda's service to his wife "suggests that Mr. Hevesi did not intend to reimburse the state."

It also found that Acquafredda was more than simply a chauffeur to Mrs. Hevesi, noting that during the last half of 2005, he "began attending to Mrs. Hevesi at the comptroller's cottage in the town of Somers," in northern Westchester County.

The report called Acquafredda a "companion for Mrs. Hevesi" and said he was spending so much time taking care of her this year that a supervisor "signed Acquafredda's time sheets for him" because he wasn't able to get to the office himself. A neighbor near the Hevesis' Somers cottage told The Post that Acquafredda was a frequent visitor who attended to Mrs. Hevesi's personal and medical needs.

"He stayed several days in a row through the spring and winter. He just ran errands and would take her to the doctor and things," the neighbor, who insisted on anonymity, continued.

While the commission said there was "no question that Mrs. Hevesi suffers from debilitating illnesses," it concluded those problems couldn't justify the misuse of state resources.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) said Pataki has the power under a little-known section of the state Public Officer's Law to recommend Hevesi's removal directly to the Senate, which could take such an action on a two-thirds vote.

A Pataki spokesman said last night that the report "contains deeply troubling findings that raise very serious issues."

"Upon conclusion of our review and after taking into consideration all pertinent factors - including the fact Albany County District Attorney [David] Soares has an ongoing criminal investigation into the matter - we will determine the appropriate course of action," said the spokesman, Michael Marr.

The stunning Ethics Commission findings just two weeks before the Nov. 7 elections caused a collective gasp among state leaders and lawmakers and raised questions about whether Democrat Hevesi, a former New York City controller and Queens assemblyman, could survive the political fallout - even before an impeachment action could be considered.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a longtime Hevesi friend, called the commission's findings "an extremely serious matter."

"As such, I am carefully reviewing the report and relevant state statute," he said.

Hevesi, who had previously reimbursed New York City nearly $6,500 for using Acquafredda as a chauffeur for his wife when he was city comptroller, said in a brief reaction to the commission's findings that he was "deeply sorry" for his actions and would "continue to cooperate fully with any inquiry."

State Republican Chairman Stephen Minarik and GOP gubernatorial hopeful John Faso quickly called on Hevesi to "resign as comptroller before he does any further damage to the office."

Callaghan said, "It is a sad day for New Yorkers when their low opinion of state government is reinforced, but sadder still when its chief fiscal officer is the reason why.

"Mr. Hevesi has no credibility left and should step down, saving himself and the state from further embarrassment," Callaghan continued.

State Democratic Chairman Herman "Denny" Farrell issued a restrained statement in Hevesi's defense, calling him "a good comptroller who said today he is sorry for his mistake and will continue to cooperate fully with any inquiry.

"Voters will have an opportunity to make a judgment about him this November on the basis of his performance as comptroller and his 35-year record of dedicated public service," Farrell continued.

Albany DA David Soares formally announced the start of a criminal probe into Hevesi's actions last week, just weeks after Callaghan, Hevesi's until-now little-known opponent, disclosed that Mrs. Hevesi had been given a state-supplied chauffeur.

The Commission's findings sparked a new round of speculation that Hevesi faced inevitable indictment by the Albany district attorney.

"How can Soares, who has promised to clean up public corruption, walk away from this without charging Hevesi in light of the commission's findings?" asked one of the state's best-known Democrats.

Closely examining Hevesi's claims about his wife's safety, the commission said its investigation found proof that Hevesi falsely claimed his wife's safety was in serious danger from foreign agents and domestic mobsters because of his official actions.

It said an August 2003 letter to Hevesi from State Police Superintendent James McMahon found that a security probe of possible dangers to Mrs. Hevesi showed a "low threat risk based on the absence of any threats to her and her relatively low public profile."

McMahon also wrote, "There does not appear to be a nexus between your high public office and Mrs. Hevesi's safety."

The commission also found that Ihor Stadnyk, a State Police investigator called in to do a risk assessment, concluded, "There was no appreciable threat to her [Mrs. Hevesi] from others."

The commission received testimony from Stadnyk that Robert Brackman, Hevesi's deputy comptroller for investigations, had taken actions "at odds with normal procedure" to convince him to conclude that a security threat did exist to Mrs. Hevesi.

Hevesi's own office even conceded, the commission said, that it had no evidence of a single threat having been made against the comptroller's wife.

The commission also found that Hevesi had already begun providing a state worker as a chauffeur for his wife before May 2003, when he first asked the commission if it was legal for him to do so.

Additional reporting by Tom Topousis, John Doyle and Erin Calabrese

fredric.dicker@nypost.com

October 24, 2006
Ethics Panel Says N.Y. Comptroller’s Use of Drivers Broke the Law
By MICHAEL COOPER, NY TIMES

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ALBANY, Oct. 23 — The State Ethics Commission accused Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi on Monday of breaking the law by using state employees to chauffeur his wife, and sharply disputed his contention that his wife needed a driver for security reasons.

The accusation against Mr. Hevesi, the state’s chief fiscal watchdog, marks the first time that the commission has ever charged a statewide official with wrongdoing, officials said. The commission’s referral of the case to the Legislature left lawmakers scrambling to figure out how to discipline the guardian of the state’s finances.

The Legislature has a range of options, from doing nothing to fining Mr. Hevesi to removing him from office, possibly by impeachment, an action that has not been taken in decades. But the law for what comes next is murky, so the official accusation had officials in the Legislature and the governor’s office rummaging through their law books to figure out what to do.

The commission’s 26-page report sent shock waves through state politics and dealt a serious blow to Mr. Hevesi, a Democrat who is running for re-election in two weeks.

Mr. Hevesi had said that he needed a driver for his ailing wife, Carol, for security reasons. But the commission found that the state police had identified no threats against Mrs. Hevesi and deemed her a “low threat risk.” It noted that her state driver had no law enforcement background and was not part of the comptroller’s security team.

The report says that the $82,688.82 reimbursement that Mr. Hevesi paid to the state after revelations about the driver first surfaced last month may not be enough to cover the real cost, and it criticized the comptroller’s office for lax record-keeping. It charged that the office’s “failure to keep any record that would allow for proper reimbursement suggests that Mr. Hevesi did not intend to reimburse the state.”

Mr. Hevesi, who has kept a low profile since the news broke, said in a statement that he disagreed with some of the commission’s findings, but did not elaborate.

“I made a mistake,” he said. “I am deeply sorry. I offer no excuses. I will continue to cooperate fully with any inquiry. I ask New Yorkers for their understanding and hope they will judge me on the basis of my performance as comptroller and my 35-year record of public service.”

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic nominee for governor, said that he had directed his office to open an investigation to determine how much might be owed to the state and to recover it “through litigation, if warranted.” He said that he was recusing himself from the inquiry because he has endorsed Mr. Hevesi for re-election.

Mr. Hevesi is still the subject of a separate criminal investigation by the Albany County district attorney, P. David Soares. “As of last week, our investigation took on a more formal posture, and in keeping with our policy, we cannot comment on our ongoing investigations,” Mr. Soares said in a statement.

Mr. Hevesi had been expected to coast to re-election against his poorly financed Republican opponent, J. Christopher Callaghan, but the recent developments have left him a pariah even among some Democrats, and his political rivals quickly seized on the report, which was released on Monday. Mr. Callaghan called on the comptroller to resign. “Clearly Mrs. Hevesi wasn’t the only New Yorker who was taken for a ride,” he said in a news conference outside the Capitol.

It was Mr. Callaghan who first raised the question of Mrs. Hevesi’s use of a state driver in a call that he made last month to a hot line that the comptroller had set up to help root out waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money. Mr. Hevesi admitted using the driver, apologized, and sent the state a reimbursement check.

When Mr. Hevesi sought permission to use a driver for his wife in 2003, the year he became comptroller, the Ethics Commission told him to get a risk assessment from an independent law enforcement agency. If security was not a concern, it told him, he should “refrain or reimburse the state for any costs incurred for the use of state resources.” He agreed.

But at the time he sought the commission’s approval, Mr. Hevesi was already using a state driver, and a state car, for his wife, the report found. Soon after, the comptroller’s office assigned a different employee, Nicholas Acquafredda, to drive Mrs. Hevesi in her own car.

The report revealed for the first time the existence of another state driver for Mrs. Hevesi; his expenses do not seem to have been included when Mr. Hevesi calculated what he owed the state.

The report also said that Mr. Hevesi did not tell the commission that he used Mr. Acquafredda to drive his wife when he was the New York City comptroller, an arrangement that led to criticism at the time. Mr. Hevesi served as New York City comptroller for eight years until the end of 2001.

Some people in the state comptroller’s office personally questioned Mr. Hevesi’s decision to use a driver for his wife, the report found. It said that when Diana Hoffman, an executive assistant comptroller, learned that Mr. Acquafredda was driving Mrs. Hevesi, she asked Mr. Hevesi, “Do we want to do this again?”

The report found that at the time Mr. Acquafredda was assigned to drive Mrs. Hevesi, who suffers from chronic pain and is now in a nursing home, he was supposed to be following up on constituents’ problems. But his driving duties left him with a large backlog of cases, it found. He then became a confidential aide to the comptroller. This year, his time sheets were signed by a supervisor because he was rarely in the office, it said.

The law for acting upon the commission’s report is anything but clear. That left some Republicans calling on the Democratic-led State Assembly to move forward with impeachment proceedings, which it has the power to do under the Constitution. It left some Democrats saying it was up to Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, to call the Republican-led Senate into session to weigh Mr. Hevesi’s fate, as the public officer’s law calls for.

This means the Hevesi question, already an issue in the governor’s race haunting Mr. Spitzer, could become a factor in legislative races, too.

A spokesman for Governor Pataki, Michael Marr, said that the governor was reviewing the “deeply troubling findings” in the report. “Upon conclusion of our review and after taking into consideration all pertinent factors — including the fact Albany County District Attorney Soares has an ongoing criminal investigation into the matter — we will determine the appropriate course of action,” he said.

October 1, 2006
A Campaign Is Revived With the Help of a Stranger
By MARC SANTORA, NY TIMES

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J. Christopher Callaghan, the Republican candidate for New York State comptroller, has a secret friend.

'I don't know his name,' Mr. Callaghan said in an interview.

But one thing is clear: For some reason, he said, the person clearly despises his opponent, the incumbent, Alan G. Hevesi, a Democrat.

It was this secret friend who whispered rumors to Mr. Callaghan that Mr. Hevesi's wife was being driven around by a state employee at taxpayer expense.

When Mr. Callaghan made the charges public last week, his long-shot candidacy was given new life, and Mr. Hevesi was forced to apologize. The comptroller also decided to reimburse $82,000 to the state.

With the Republican Party's other statewide candidates either trailing badly in the polls, like John Faso, who is running for governor, or wrapped up in scandal, like Jeanine F. Pirro, Mr. Callaghan is now looking like the one bright spot for the party this year, although his candidacy is still considered a long shot.

Until his recent troubles, Mr. Hevesi was considered a shoo-in for re-election to the job of comptroller, a post with a low profile but sizable responsibilities. Through New York's pension fund, the comptroller controls more than $120 billion in assets, more than twice the entire gross domestic product of Guatemala. The office also monitors the billions more spent by the state each year.

Should Mr. Callaghan defy the odds, it would be quite a leap for a man whose job as Saratoga County treasurer -- a post he held from 1997 until this summer, when he decided to run -- put him in charge of about $60 million annually. But he says he is not in the least bit daunted.

Mr. Callaghan, 59, said he first thought about running in 2004 after Mr. Hevesi made changes to the timetable of counties' annual pension payment to the state, changes that he said ended up costing Saratoga an extra $60,000.

Last winter, when no other Republican stepped forward to run, Mr. Callaghan figured he would challenge Mr. Hevesi.

On the day of his nomination, he was aided by a stumble by Mr. Hevesi, who made a poorly received joke about the possibility of Senator Charles E. Schumer putting 'a bullet between the president's eyes, if he could get away with it.'

But until this week, Mr. Callaghan has had trouble getting the attention of voters. 'It has been a struggle getting anyone to notice,' he said.

Which is surprising, since family and friends say that Mr. Callaghan, at 6 foot 1 and 250 pounds, is anything but a wallflower.

Over a pint of Guinness at the Parting Glass Pub in Saratoga, he explained that he had tried to use humor and self-deprecation to set himself apart from Mr. Hevesi.

'I get the impression of a guy who is smart, aggressively liberal and very, very arrogant,' Mr. Callaghan said of his opponent, who he believes has taken his re-election for granted.

On his Web site, Mr. Callaghan has an advertisement of himself, wearing his trademark bow tie, posing with photographs of Mr. Hevesi at various state fairs, trying to make the point that the comptroller has been absent from the campaign trial.

Friends say the ad captures Mr. Callaghan's cheeky sense of humor.

'The typical bean counter he is not,' said Gail Lyng, who along with her husband, Jim, has known the Callaghans for more than 20 years. 'He is phenomenally avant-garde.'

He is the kind of person, Mrs. Lyng said, who will hop on the piano and belt out a song to a room full of strangers, as he once did at a town meeting in Halfmoon. He also writes limericks and plays the guitar, although not much beyond a basic strumming.

Mr. Callaghan said he was not one to pass up a good time, but he added that in college he may have had a bit too much fun. He planned to study physics, but the gravitational pull of the keg was too strong. 'I majored in beer drinking,' he said.

He ended up failing and finishing college at SUNY Albany, getting a degree in the business of government in 1971.

Throughout the 60's, he said, he remained fairly conservative, working as a longshoreman one summer to pay for school. With the encouragement of a friend of his father's, he got involved in local politics, becoming president of the Waterford Young Republicans and, after school, moving back to his hometown of Waterford. He and his wife, Liz, have three children and six grandchildren.

His oldest son, John, 33, said he would describe his father's parenting style as 'demanding.'

'Me, my brother and my sister were held to a much higher standard than other kids in the neighborhood,' he said. Nearly every night, he said, no matter how busy his father was, they sat together for dinner at 6 p.m.

Mr. Callaghan said he held strong conservative views, but would not let that influence his work as comptroller. 'Your only policy concern should be fiscal,' he said.

One of his biggest problems with Mr. Hevesi, he said, has been his use of the pension fund to push social policy. 'He decided by unilateral fiat to extend pension benefits to gay couple married in Canada,' he said, noting other examples as well.

He acknowledged that it would be very difficult to unseat Mr. Hevesi. Mr. Callaghan has just one person on his staff and only about $50,000 in campaign funds, not enough to buy any television time at all.

The Republican Party infrastructure in New York is also in rough shape and is focusing more of its resources on winning the race for attorney general and governor.

'I may be the last man standing,' he said.

In the coming days, Mr. Callaghan plans to continue to push the theme of integrity, contrasting himself with the comptroller's use of state resources for personal purposes.

'I think you can't avoid taking away the impression that he can't be trusted,' he said of his opponent. 'Here's the chief watchdog, and he had his hand in the till.'

Mr. Hevesi's campaign staff refused to comment on any specific allegations made by Mr. Callaghan. Earlier this week, Mr. Hevesi apologized for using a public employee as a chauffeur and security guard for his wife. Although he said fears about security, his wife's ill health and his extensive travel all led to the mistake, he said his actions were inexcusable. 'I'm going to do everything I can to make up for this,' he said.

While Mr. Callaghan said he might not have much money or name recognition, he said there may be more revelations yet to come from his secret friend. 'Some of what he says is cryptic,' he said.

As he told supporters at a fund-raiser in Saratoga on Thursday night, 'Anything can happen.'

ALAN G. HEVESI
CONTACT: Press Office
(518) 474-4015 FOR RELEASE:
Immediately
October 10, 2006
LINK

Comptroller’s Report Details Challenges for Next Administration
Annual Report on State’s Finances Detail Projected Growth in Spending, Debt

The State is scheduled to issue new debt twice as fast as it will retire existing debt over the next five years, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

Hevesi, who released his findings in his Annual Report on the Financial Condition of New York State, noted that spending is projected to grow twice as fast as revenues over the next three years.

“Since the current trends are clearly unsustainable, it is imperative that the legislature and executive seize the opportunity of a new administration to initiate a new commitment to fiscal responsibility,” Hevesi said.

The report also noted that State spending totaled $104.8 billion in 2006, an increase of $3.7 billion or 3.6 percent from the prior year. Since 2002, State spending has grown 22.7 percent, more than twice the rate of inflation (10.9%).

“Too many areas of the State are still marked by stagnant job growth and high local taxes, which make it difficult to attract or retain businesses and jobs,” Hevesi said. “Stronger fiscal practices are essential to make New York State economically competitive.”

Among the findings in the report:

State Funded debt totals about $48.5 billion. This has increased by 31 percent since 2002.
New York is the second most indebted state in the nation behind California.
New York’s spending in 2006 was $5,443 per person.
New York has the highest combined state and local taxes as a percentage of income. Local property tax levies are first in the nation and increased more than twice the rate of inflation from 1995-2005.
Hevesi also released the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of New York.