Here & There Column 4-9-13

Welfare Fraud Gets Attention It Needs

  Busting welfare fraud is a top priority for Sullivan County Legislator Cindy Kurpil Gieger.

  We have mentioned Cindy in several of our recent columns as having true feelings that the county is moving towards new goals of fiscal accountability and oversight of residents tax dollars and that she wants to turn away from the present status quo of the good old boy form of government that's been around far too long. 

  Spearheading efforts by this legislator has resulted in the county hiring retired Monticello Police Detective Gerald Dietz as the county's first chief welfare inspector.

  Heard some rumblings about this new hire from folks who complained that the county is posting the highest unemployment rate in the seven-county Hudson Valley region, that the county can't afford hiring new personnel and that hiring additional personnel does not fit in with the recent increase in county taxes.

  Having been very vocal in the past about the continued increase in taxes I have to firmly support this effort by the county to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars by catching welfare cheats.

  It's been stated by some that Sullivan County has become a destination to receive welfare benefits and that the county needs to fight welfare fraud.

  Busting welfare fraud should be a top priority and welfare services should be available for those who truly need them.

  Cheating the system cost taxpayers and the county a lot of money and this issue has  become everyone's responsibility to report welfare fraud committed in Sullivan County and New York State.

  Potentially fraudulent welfare situations everyone should be on the guard against include unreported income, hidden assets, unreported changes in household composition, unreported changes in shelter costs, false parental custody and SNAP trafficking (selling EBT cards for money, drugs, etc.).

  County residents are encouraged to report welfare cheats anonymously by calling the new fraud hotline at 845-513-2392 or at stopfraud@co.sullivan.ny.us