ALBANY - State Comptroller Alan Hevesi declined to testify before an Albany County grand jury that was taking testimony Friday about his failure to pay the state for using a staffer as his wife's driver.

Hevesi had the opportunity to give his side of the story to the panel, according to a person familiar with Albany County District Attorney David Soares' investigation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because grand jury investigations are secret.

While Hevesi did not attend, the driver - Nicholas Acquafredda - did appear before the grand jury for about 90 minutes. Both Acquafredda and his lawyer, Joel Weiss, declined comment before and after the testimony.

It was the second time Acquafredda came to Albany to answer questions in the investigation, according to the person familiar with the investigation.

Soares' office hopes to complete its investigation by the end of the year.

Hevesi's lawyer, Joel Cohen, did not immediately return a call for comment. Hevesi spokesman David Neustadt declined comment.

Gov. George Pataki said Thursday he will let his successor, Eliot Spitzer, decide whether to seek Comptroller Alan Hevesi's removal from office.

In an interview on cable news channel NY-1, Pataki said any action taken before Jan. 1 would only apply to Hevesi's current term, not the term he was elected to in November.

“Any action dealing with this has to be taken in January,” said Pataki, who has appointed a special prosecutor to determine if his successor should seek Hevesi's removal by the state Senate.

The prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney David Kelley, would also be in charge of bringing a case against Hevesi to the Senate. It would take a two-thirds vote of the chamber to oust Hevesi.

Pataki leaves office at the end of the month, when Spitzer will be sworn in as governor.

Spitzer declined comment, but said he would “not be shy” when he announces any decision on Hevesi.

In October, the state Ethics Commission said Hevesi, a Queens Democrat, violated the law when he used a staffer to chauffeur his wife from 2003 to mid-2006.

Hevesi claimed the driver was needed to provide security for his wife, but the bipartisan commission said state police found no threat that justified the arrangement.

The panel said Hevesi apparently had no intention of repaying the state for the three years of service until his Republican challenger, J. Christopher Callaghan, went public with a complaint this year.

Hevesi apologized for what he called the serious error of providing a “belated” reimbursement, but insists he did not break the law.

Spitzer, a Democrat, recused himself from the case, but ordered a top deputy to investigate how much Hevesi still owed the state. Hevesi on Tuesday agreed to pay the state $206,293.79 to settle the attorney general's investigation.