Division of Budget Director Robert Megna today sharply criticized the staff of Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for releasing a report critical of aspects of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $142.6 billion spending proposal.

In a telephone conference call with reporters, Megna said DiNapoli’s staff “did him a disservice” for releasing a report that he insisted misrepresented the state’s debt picture, plans for borrowing in the governor’s budget proposal, as well as how New York will pay for the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

“We believe the comptroller’s staff did him a disservice that misrepresent or totally get wrong what is in the budget,” Megna said.

DiNapoli’s report noted that debt is being taken on by public authorities, adding about $3.3 billion in borrowing for the coming fiscal year. He also critiqued the use of $700 million in the New York Works projects for lacking transparency in how the money would be spent.

While DiNapoli’s report raised concerns that the state was nearing its legal debt capacity, Megna said borrowing will remain largely flat in the coming years and that capital projects are largely being funded on a pay-as-you-go basis.

“The main point is our borrowing over the next five years is going to remain roughly constant,” Megna said.

As for the public authority borrowing, Megna took issue with the implication that this is a new kind of borrowing.

“For the last 30 years this is how our borrowing has been done,” he said, adding, “We have borrowed through authorities for the last half century.”

Public authorities and other entities can bond outside of public referendums, a procedure championed by controversial builder Robert Moses.

Megna also knocked the comptroller’s office for misconstruing an overhaul in federal income tax payment dates and policy.

Megna disagreed with the idea that DiNapoli’s report was somehow “political.”

DiNapoli and Cuomo are both Democrats, but the two are not political allies in any real sense. Cuomo, however, did call the comptroller a “competent fellow” this week when questioned as to whether he was in danger of being unseated in a primary.

Underscoring how much the Cuomo administration wanted to dispute the more critical aspects of the comptroller’s report, the state Republican Party in an email blast included a link to it saying, “Don’t take our word for it.”

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