County: Suffolk Y’s Contracts Misunderstood

The Suffolk Y may not owe  after all.

At Tuesday's Suffolk County Legislature's Budget and Finance Committee meeting, led by State Legis. Duwayne Gregory, the Commack organization defended their claim that the language used in the grant made it unclear on how county money must be spent. 

According to the Comptroller's office, the county grants were to be used to offset costs of the programs at the center, specifically its youth programs. However, the audit report said that the center failed to show how the the money offset those expenses.

Gregory said that while the official decision to forgive the allegedly misappropriated grant funds has not been made by the County Executive Steve Levy, they have already initiated the process by sending a letter to the Y.

Joel Block, Suffolk Y spokesman, said the organization is very gratified by this end result. He said the contracts have been amended, as of 2009, so that they no longer include this language. He said this would not only help the Y, but also other nonprofits in the county with older contracts.