Disagreement Continues Over Grafton Budgeting Process
By Doug La Rocque
The difference of opinion as to how the Town of Grafton’s budget process should proceed began in October at the Town Board’s budget workshop and continued through an abbreviated public hearing on the budget last Thursday, and into Monday night’s Town Board meeting. [private]The main sticking point is Supervisor Frank Higgins’s proposal to reduce by half the salaries of the Town Board members and the Supervisor. He also reduced the salary of the Dog Control Officer by $1,000.
After the public hearing opened on Thursday evening, Councilman Rick Ungaro apologized to those present and moved the hearing be closed. He read an opinion from the NYS Association of Towns that it was illegal to reduce an elected official’s salary during midterm unless the Board was to pass a local law subject to a mandatory referendum. It was his contention the budget before them was therefore structurally unbalanced and could not be put forward as a preliminary budget for public comment. He was supported in his belief by Councilman Mike Crandall and Councilwoman Ingrid Gundrum. Supervisor Higgins and Councilwoman Barb Messenger argued it was only an opinion and cited the New York State Town Law manual as the basis for the budget being correct.
Before Councilman Crandall seconded the motion to close the hearing, two residents did speak up. Pat Ivory supported the cuts in salaries, claiming he felt council members worked about 30 hours a year. At an annual salary of $3,000, it is his contention this equates to a pay rate of about $100 an hour. To a person, the council members claimed they put in many more hours than that, often working behind the scenes and not just attending meetings. Resident Linda Laveway questioned the funding for the seniors program. She made it clear she supported the seniors, but claimed the Town of Grafton was funding bus trips that many seniors from surrounding towns are part of. She felt these other towns should share in the cost. After their comments, the Board voted 3-2 to close the hearing, Supervisor Higgins and Councilwoman Messenger in opposition.
Fast forward to Monday night’s meeting. After the Board finished its regular business, Supervisor Higgins moved forward a resolution to approve the budget he had proposed. It is his claim that since the Board failed to make any changes in the tentative budget after the passage of an appropriate amount of time, the document is now the Preliminary Budget. He cited Section 5.7 of the Town Law Manual that says “upon completion of the review, the tentative budget as modified by the Town Board becomes the preliminary budget and must be filed in the Town Clerk’s office.” This he claims to have done. Councilwoman Messenger seconded the resolution, which was defeated by a 3-2 vote. Council members Ungaro, Crandall and Gundrum voting in opposition.
Councilwoman Gundrum then presented a budget resolution that described Supervisor Higgins’s budget process as flawed, citing the previously mentioned opinion from the New York State Association of Towns and its literature that states only the Town Board can declare the budget to be preliminary and only then can the Town Board, not the Supervisor, schedule a public hearing. Councilman Ungaro produced an e-mail from Town Attorney Sal Ferlazzo concurring with the Association of Towns attorney Lori Mithen. In it he wrote, “the Association of Towns legal opinions are very accurate and I honor Lori’s opinion unless I am shown a case against it, which has never happened in my career.” Gundrum, who is Supervisor elect, proposed a number of line item changes, including the restoration of the Council and Supervisor’s salaries as well as that of the dog control officer. To keep the budget balanced, she proposed to eliminate all but $1,700 of the $15,600 dollars in the Supervisor’s Secretary’s salary. Gundrum said she will act as her own secretary. She also proposed increasing the Town Clerk’s contractual expenses by $2,200, reducing the highway appropriations contract expense by $7,000, and increasing yet to be determined interfund transfers by $7,000. Gundrum said this budget is structurally balanced and continues the zero percent tax increase proposed in the original budget document.
Supervisor Higgins objected to the introduction of the resolution, citing a resolution passed earlier in the year that required all new resolutions to sit on the supervisor’s and council person’s desk for at least five business days prior to its introduction. Councilman Ungaro, who proposed the so called “resolution on resolutions”, cited a clause that allowed a new resolution to go forward in the case of an emergency, or if three members of the council give their approval. This was confirmed by Deputy Town Clerk Cathy Goyer reading that resolution out loud. The Board approved a motion to allow Gundrum’s budget resolution to proceed by the same 3-2 vote. And with Council Members Gundrum, Crandall and Ungaro voting yea, the new budget proposal was carried. It also declared the proposal to be the Preliminary Budget and set a new public hearing for Tuesday, November 17 at 5:45 pm. In casting their negative votes, Councilwoman Messenger expressed her concern the budget might lead to the Town once again issuing revenue anticipation notes, something that has been criticized by the NYS Comptroller’s Office. Supervisor Higgins said he did not believe the process “to be legal or truthful.”
Other Business
During the report section of the meeting, Codes Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey said there were 52 building permits out this year to date, and that he was working with the banks to have some vacant properties properly boarded up. He is also working on a garage that is falling down on a property on Route 2 near the western border of the town, to get it demolished. He urged all residents to make sure their heaters and wood stoves are clean and in proper working order.
Donna Baldwin presented the Rescue Squad report. They responded to ten calls in the month of October, four of which required ALS mutual aid, and covered two calls for the Petersburgh Ambulance Corp while their ambulance was out of service. Dog Control Officer Jay Goyer reported he responded to two barking dog complaints, and returned to their owners two dogs who had broken free of their confines. He also told the Town Board he has not and does not plan to charge the town for any mileage this year. Highway Superintendent Herb Hasbrouck said they are working on some water problems before they become an icing concern, preparing their equipment for winter and stockpiling sand. Deputy Town Clerk Cathy Goyer said she did not have the clerk’s report for October or the minutes from the October Town Board Meeting ready yet. She did present the minutes of the November 5 public hearing, which the board accepted. The meeting was adjourned in loving memory of Arthur Boyer.[/private]