Overview
The Authorities Budget Office (ABO) is empowered by its governing statute to “initiate formal investigations in response to complaints or appearances of non-compliance by an authority” under Section 6(2)(d) of Title 2 of the Public Authorities Law.
Please use the Online Complaint Form to submit a complaint or concern regarding the adequacy of a New York State public authority’s procedures or activities regarding public accountability and disclosure, as well as instances which may indicate the public authority is not in compliance with its enabling statute or provisions of public authorities law. The complaint should be credible and specific as to the alleged act of wrong doing.
Complaint Requirements and Process
When submitting a complaint, please describe as much of the following information as you can:
- Who is engaging in misconduct
- Which authority is involved
- What wrongdoing occurred
- When it occurred
- Whether there are witnesses to the misconduct
- What laws or agency regulations have been violated
When a complaint form is received, the ABO will evaluate this information and perform an initial assessment of the issues raised in your complaint.
Based on the results of this preliminary review the ABO will evaluate the appropriate course of action. Should a formal investigation be undertaken, any report resulting from that review will be made public.
Confidentiality
When you contact us with a complaint, although you are not required to identify yourself, we do strongly encourage that you do so in the event additional questions arise during the course of our evaluation or investigation. Unless you have chosen to file your complaint anonymously, you may be contacted by us to discuss details of the complaint or provide additional information.
In addition, New York State law affords “whistle-blower” protection to State and authority employees who report allegations of misconduct: you cannot be disciplined, dismissed or subjected to adverse personnel action because you have filed a complaint with the Authorities Budget Office.