State Drops Ball on Stolen Vehicle Program

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli File Photo

Drivers forced to pay an extra $10 fee tacked on to their auto insurance policies by the state to combat auto theft and fraud are not getting much of a bang for their bucks, according to an audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

With a 15% increase in thefts from 2022 to 2023, the Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud Program hasn’t done much over the last three years of tapping motorist insurance premiums. In fact, the opposite is true: Increased stolen vehicles and false claims have driven up policy costs to huge inflationary levels.

“My office’s latest audit found the program’s administration needs improvement,” DiNapoli stated. “New Yorkers deserve a well-run program that uses more recent crime data to target its efforts.”

The program, managed by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), doles out money to law enforcement and prosecutors throughout New York. According to DiNapoli, about $14 million was dispersed between 2018 and 2021 with nearly $8 million from the policy fee diverted to the state’s general fund. The program uses a complicated ranking system to determine which jurisdictions can receive the funds with criteria such as past program performance, countywide collaboration and past prosecutorial or investigative insurance fraud efforts, the audit notes.

The program is administered by a 12-member Board, with the DCJS as administrator and its commissioner serving as board chair. The members are appointed by the governor and are supposed to represent auto insurance consumers, auto insurance companies, law enforcement agencies, and the judicial system, DiNapoli pointed out. They are required to meet regularly and develop a Plan of Operation, among other bureaucratic functions.

“We found persisting gaps in program governance throughout the 4-year audit period that hindered DCJS’ ability to conduct program business,” DiNapoli’s audit stated. “These gaps contributed to DCJS’ continued reliance on extending contract award amounts that were decided based on non-current crime statistics. We also found program costs that lacked adequate support or were incorrectly charged to the program.” The comptroller added: “We reviewed support for $986,716 in claimed costs and identified excess and unsupported charges to the program totaling $336,803.”

The audit also delved into overtime spending by the program staff, noting that “21 of 139 overtime requests lacked appropriate supervisory approval and totaled $6,515, including 14 requests, representing three staff, that were authorized by the same person who worked the overtime and seven requests that were not approved.”

Richmond County on Staten Island experienced the largest increase in auto theft in the state with a 58.8% increase from 2020 to 2021, despite receiving $50,144 through the program. Suffolk, which received $406,766, saw a 33.9% jump in thefts in 2019 to 2020, and a 7.8% decrease the following year. Nassau County had a 33% spike in 2020-2021 having received $260,169 from the program.