JOSEPH SAWICKI, JR.

SUFFOLK COUNTY COMPTROLLER

Joseph Sawicki, Jr. began his second four year term as Suffolk County Comptroller on January 1, 2007.

Comptroller Sawicki is firmly committed to safeguarding the integrity of the Department of Audit & Control and serves as the County’s fiscal watchdog by detecting and eliminating waste, abuse and fraud in government and its related agencies.  His goal is to conduct the office in an objective, independent and non-partisan manner when it comes to watching taxpayer dollars.

As the County’s Chief Fiscal Officer, the Comptroller:

1. oversees the auditing of all county departments and agencies receiving taxpayer monies;
2. maintains the books of account and prepares the annual financial statements for the county;
3. is the chief borrowing authority of the county - borrowing several hundred million dollars annually in short term notes and long term bonds;
4. oversees the entire county payroll and its 14,446 employees; and
5. pays and pre-audits the county’s bills – approximately 250,000 invoices annually.

Comptroller Sawicki takes great pride in that Suffolk now has the highest bond ratings from Wall Street in its history.  His office was again awarded the “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting” by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.  This award represents the “highest form of recognition in the area of government accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment is a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.”  

The Comptroller’s audit division has completed over 50 audits resulting in monetary findings of $4.776 million dollars.  The audits conducted have resulted in monetary recoveries and led to the issuance of hundreds of recommendations relating to strengthening accounting and management controls; and ensuring compliance with laws, regulations and contracts.

Some of the more notable audits include Express Scripts, the County’s prescription drug administrator, which resulted in a repayment of $865,000; NewLifeChristianMinistries, a homeless shelter that over billed the county $773,000; and NSM Three Sisters another homeless shelter that over charged the County $263,000.

In May of 2007, Mr. Sawicki was instrumental in recouping $180,654 of unclaimed funds from the State of New York that was due the County after many years.

A major goal of the Comptroller has been to weed out white collar crime and the theft of Suffolk taxpayers’money.  As such, he forged a partnership with the District Attorney Tom Spota by pooling auditing and investigative resources to detect and deter abusive spending.  Thus far, over a million dollars in findings have been referred to the District Attorney for possible criminal prosecution from such audits as NewLifeChristianMinistries, the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Suffolk County Parks Department, and the Brentwood Youth Association.  Several audits, in fact, resulted in the successful prosecution and conviction of agency heads and employees.

The Comptroller earned his accounting degree cum laude at SienaCollege and upon graduation in 1976 was recruited by the international accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co. (now KPMG). In January 1979 he became Deputy County Comptroller.

In November 1982 he was elected to the New York State Assembly where he served for nearly six terms.  In 1993, he became the Comptroller/CFO of the Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation until January 2000 when he was named Chief Deputy County Treasurer. He was first elected CountyComptroller in November 2002.

He is a lifelong resident of Southold where he resides with his wife, Maryann and two sons, Joseph III and Jamie Vianney.