Stephentown finances appear to be in “pretty good shape” at the end of the year according to Supervisor Larry Eckhardt at the December 19 Town Board meeting. [private]The Town recently received its third quarter Sales Tax distribution from the County in the amount of $68,546. That, he said, makes the total for the year just a little bit shy of the $310,000 estimated in the budget. However, the amount received in Mortgage Tax distributions was over the budgeted estimate by almost $15,000.
Eckhardt noted too that the highway money of over $128,000 received from the State through the Consolidated Local Street & Highway Program (CHIPS) was also a bit more than budgeted and the Highway Department is also receiving an additional $29,253 from the PAVE-NY program, a new program of the State Transportation Department intended to assist municipalities with the rehabilitation and reconstruction of local highways and roads.
“That’s the good news,” Eckhardt said. “The bad news is we’ve spent it already,” on upgrading the heating system at the Town Garage ($6,000 for a propane gas heater and propane tank) and the purchase of a new used Gradall. Overall though, he believed that looking at some additional numbers for the month of December at next week’s year-end Reconciliation meeting, the Board will find they are “in pretty good shape.”
Thanks From TRACS
Annie Cass, a member of TRACS (Together Reducing Alcohol & Drugs in our Communities) presented to the Board a plaque from the Y2Y Eastern States 2016 Conference held last summer at Bryant University in Rhode Island, along with a note thanking the Town “for contracting with youth from Stephentown so that we were able to go to the 2016 Eastern States Training Conference.” The note was signed by Rachel Cahill, Amanda Despart and Annie Cass “on behalf of Y2Y Berlin.”
Town Will Stay
With ERCSWMA
Councilman Bill Jennings, who is a member of the Board of the Eastern Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority (ERCSWMA), reported on an audit of that Authority by the State Authorities Budget Office. The Budget Office was critical of ERCSWMA for several things. One was that vehicle records for reimbursing for mileage on personal vehicles were not complete and accurate. Another was that the Board had allowed the Director, in lieu of receiving pay raises, to enter into an agreement with a trade conference whereby he would receive up to $6,000 for rounding up sponsors for the conference. This money was, however, paid through ERCSWMA, which the Budget Office said was not proper and a conflict of interest.
The major complaint of the Budget Office was that the Authority had overcharged the member towns for hauling fees. Jennings said what happened was that when gas prices began to fall in 2015, The ERCSWMA Board got a break in charges from the hauling company but decided to hold on to the money in the expectation that prices would soon go back up. That didn’t happen so the Budget Office has directed that each of the towns receive a credit for the overcharges. Stephentown will receive a $3,000 credit for the year 2015.
Jennings said the ERCSWMA has agreed with the complaints of the Budget Office and has taken steps to correct the problems. They will also change their bylaws to make clear that the trash hauling function is completely separate from the operation of the ERCSWMA Warehouse. Confusion on this point resulted in another complaint from the Budget Office regarding the Authority’s bookkeeping and budgeting.
The Town Board has had discussions in recent months and years about possibly withdrawing from ERCSWMA and finding some other, perhaps cheaper, way to run the Transfer Station and haul trash. Eckhardt said that they have not been able to find a way to make it work at a definitely lower expense but they have come a long way, with improvements and fees and better recycling at the Transfer Station, toward making the operation revenue neutral. The Board, he said, has decided to stay with ERCSWMA for the time being.
Financial Audit
Of Town Court
The Board completed an audit of the Town Court financials for fiscal year 2015 last October. They now considered a resolution to accept the audit as complete. Jennings pointed out, however, a discrepancy in the amounts received and dispersed versus the difference in the money in the bank since the beginning of that fiscal year. Money in the bank is reported as actually being a bit more than the income/dispersal amounts would indicate. The Board decided to table the resolution and ask for a clarification from the Court Clerk.
Town Hall Cleaner Rehired
Two bids were received for cleaning of the Town Hall for next year, which is for 4 1/2 hours a week for cleaning and garbage removal. Kathleen Olson, who currently holds this contract, asked $17 per hour. Parkers Janitorial from Fort Edward asked $26.66 per hour. The Board said Olson has been doing “an excellent job” and awarded the contract to her.
Road Materials
Two bids were received to provide the Highway Department with road materials such as gravel and sand. One was from Richard G. Senter of Stephentown and the other from Quality Construction of Berlin. The Board decided, as in past recent years, to accept both bids and leave the decision of purchasing materials up to the discretion of the Highway Superintendent.
Deposits & Spending
The Town Clerk turned over the sum of $989.88 to the Supervisor for the month of November. The distribution from the Office of the State Comptroller, Justice Court Fund to the Town was $5,273. The Transfer Station deposited a total of $5,740.
The Board audited and approved claims in the amount of $18,421.36 from the General Account and $19,926.19 from the Highway Account.
The Board set both its year-end Reconciliation Meeting and its 2017 Organizational Meeting for Wednesday, December 28, its next workshop meeting for Monday, January 9 and its next regular meeting for Monday, January 16, all meetings to begin at 7 pm. [/private]