George Maragos

George Maragos (born March 17, 1949) was the 13th Comptroller of Nassau County, New York, USA.

As an undergraduate, he studied electrical engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, earning a Bachelor of Engineering in electrical engineering in 1973.

Maragos started his career at Bell-Northern Research where he was one of the youngest managers in the global technology organization.

In 1978, he joined Booz Allen Hamilton in New York to work on U.S. Military Defense Command and Control Systems, requiring security clearances from the U.S. government.

He later became an associate in charge of developing information technology solutions for major multi-national commercial clients.

In 1981, he joined Chase Manhattan Bank, leading a team charged with building the organization's international data and money transfer network.

He was later promoted to vice president.

Maragos received an M.B.A in finance in 1983 from Pace University in New York City.

In 1986, he joined Citibank as vice president and director of North American Treasury and Telecommunications Systems.

In 1989, Maragos founded his own business, SDS Financial Technologies, and was its president and CEO for over 20 years until his election as Nassau County Comptroller in 2009.

From 2001 to 2014, Verizon implemented an Enhanced 911 system throughout Nassau County.

During this time, Verizon deducted 1-3% beyond the permitted administrative fee from residents' monthly phone bills.

The comptroller's office recommended a collaboration with the offices of the Nassau County Police to obtain the total unpaid amount from Verizon while the police department reviewed the previous months that Verizon was working with Nassau County on the E911 system to determine whether or not there was even more withheld during that time.

He was first elected in 2009 for a four-year term and was re-elected in 2013 for a second four-year term.

Maragos was elected as Nassau County comptroller in November 2009, and was sworn in in January 2010.

Maragos released an audit of the Nassau County Police Department which revealed $96.28 million in higher-than-budgeted overtime costs and $382.27 million in savings from attrition from 2009 to 2014.

These figures were compounded on $247.58 million in estimated future savings as a result of the new collective bargaining agreement.

Maragos gave credit to the Nassau County Police for keeping crime low and protecting Nassau County residents but also proposed that the police department's management practices needed to be revised so that more resources could be directed to improve public safety.

He was re-elected to a second term beginning in January 2014.

Maragos released a study in 2014 into the changing demographics of Nassau County.

The study proposed a new economic vision for the county which, if implemented, it was claimed would revitalize the economy by drawing on the county's natural advantages to become the health and wellness center of the world.

Maragos proposed that Nassau County should become a place where people would "want to come to receive the best medical treatments and where the next generation of miracle medicines would be discovered".

He urged greater focused investments in innovation, research and development, transportation infrastructure and IT to achieve this economic vision.

At the request of the Nassau County Police Department, the Nassau County Comptroller's Office conducted an audit which revealed that Verizon underpaid the county over $466,919, an amount that may have increased as investigations continued.

In a letter dated December 4, 2014, the Hempstead Industrial Development Agency ("IDA") proposed a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes ("PILOT") which was described to assist with the purchase of 71.87 acres of land and improvements to the Green Acres Commons (formerly known as the Green Acres Mall).

It was not until December 12, 2014, that a cost-benefit analysis for the project was released.

The approval of the IDA's PILOT on December 17, 2014, directly contributed to a rise in school property taxes from 4.6% to 12.2% while reducing the taxes paid by the Green Acre Commons by $2.7 million.

Maragos review of the documents concerned the PILOTs' unusually expedited process of approval, as well as the PILOT's four-page cost-benefit analysis which contained only calculation tables without any explanations.

On October 24, 2016, the Nassau County Comptroller's Office commenced a formal audit of the Town of Hempstead IDA regarding the PILOT granted to the Green Acres Mall.

Maragos conducted and released an audit of a county contract totaling $385,478 in order to monitor the removal of debris caused by Superstorm Sandy.

The contract was performed by Gibbons, Esposito and Boyce (GEB), an engineering firm based in Uniondale, New York.

Eight field monitors, who constituted 50% of the employees who were working on the debris removal monitoring project, were underpaid.

According to the audit, GEB failed to provide proof that all of its field monitors had the proper FEMA protocol training which was a minimum requirement stated in the contract.

Paid time off was not awarded, which is contrary to Living Wave Law.

Various time sheets that GEB submitted to the county for reimbursement did not contain the appropriate signatures for approval.

GEB and its legal counsel maintained that they were exempt from the county's Living Wage Law.

The comptroller and his staff oversee the county's budget and financial operations; in 2017, the annual budget was $2.6 billion.

The comptroller's office audits government agencies, reviews all county contracts and claims and reports on all matters that significantly affect Nassau County's financial health and operations.

The office is also in charge of administering the county payroll and employee health benefits, and preparing Nassau County's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

In general, Maragos and his staff "work with the administration and legislature to help Nassau County overcome its fiscal challenges".