The Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs was too short-staffed to properly perform New York State-mandated inspections designed to prevent unscrupulous retailers from overcharging consumers, an audit has found.
The agency’s Weights & Measures Division did not test 30% of retailers’ measurement devices during an audit of 50 inspections performed between January 2022 and September 2023, did not maintain complete inspection records as required by state law, and did not conduct any price accuracy tests despite the division’s policy to do so, according to an audit that State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office released on Sept. 3.
“When consumers shop for groceries or buy gas or even mulch, they expect the retailers to be fair and the pricing or weighing devices they use to be accurate,” DiNapoli said. “If price scanners or scales are incorrect, or prices don’t match those displayed, it can add up, and consumers may end up paying more for everyday items.”
The state’s 15-page audit was one of 10 reviews conducted in a sampling of county weights and measures inspection agencies statewide — with the larger audit finding that counties need to improve efforts to protect consumers by routinely testing retailers’ devices and checking that consumers are getting what they pay for. State Department of Agriculture and Markets law mandates counties annually verify the accuracy of retailers’ scales, gas pumps, and scanners, among other things.
In Nassau, state auditors reported finding that 118 of 395 devices reviewed were not inspected, with timing devices making up 112 of the untested items.
“The assistant director told us … he generally does not test timing devices because he does not have sufficient staff to conduct such inspections,” the audit stated.
The county responded in writing that a full-time senior inspector retired during the audit period, and a second was training two new inspectors, which reduced efficiency. The county also said it planned to hire more staff for the division by this month, but it was not immediately clear if that was done by the time the audit was released. The county additionally countered that the timing devices were not required to be inspected, an assertion that state auditors said was not true.
As for not performing price checks, the county responded that while the Weights & Measures Division did not perform those inspections, other staffers in the larger Department of Consumer Affairs did.
“[The] County’s Consumer Affairs personnel confirmed that no item pricing waiver inspections were performed during the audit period,” the comptroller’s audit wrote in response to that assertion in the county’s response.
The audit also found that the county division had no system in place to maintain a complete and accurate master list of businesses or update the inventory of devices. One of the key recommendations was that the agency should maintain a complete inventory of all businesses.
Nassau Consumer Affairs Commissioner John Capese wrote in response to the audit: “The Weights & Measures Division will reach out regularly to the County Clerk, the Department of Health, and the Fire Marshal’s office, to compare databases for new businesses and update as necessary.”
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