Craig Wolf • Poughkeepsie Journal • August 22, 2010
FISHKILL — Town officials, reacting to a state audit critical of finances and fiscal practices, plan special public meetings to address the town’s deficit and lay out a five-year plan to fix it.
Supervisor Joan Pagones, speaking at a town board meeting held Saturday in a pavilion at Maurer-Geering Park, said that copies of state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s complete audit, including town responses, will be made available at Town Hall.
“We are prepared to go through it step by step,” Pagones said. Dates and places for the meetings have not yet been announced. At least two are planned.
The audit covered 2008 through mid-2009, with some portions extending to this February, and found the town had a deficit of $4.9 million, about 35 percent of its 2008 budget. Juggling of monies among various town funds to cover deficits in others was cited,
including some transfers the auditors called “an improper use of borrowed moneys” and others that were not repaid as law requires during the same fiscal year.
Pagones has blamed the shortfall on the long downturn in the economy and its heavy effect
cutting into town revenues.
The audit also said appropriations “were overspent a total of $545,000″ and referred to “chronic fund deficits caused by poor budgeting practices.”
The meeting got heated at one point as resident Ozzy Albra called for creating an ethics commission.
“There’s no reason for an ethics commission,” replied Pagones. “There is no money missing.
“We’ll have a complete outlay of everything,” she said. “Let me make this perfectly clear. There’s no fraud, no misappropriation, no malfeasance.”
She told Albra, “I’m sorry to disappoint you that I won’t be going out of here in cuffs.” She later ruled
Albra out of order for addressing the board during a portion of the meeting not open for public comment, and asked a town police officer to intervene. This resulted in Albra and the officer walking out of the pavilion.
The audit report hasn’t been formally issued publicly by the comptroller. But copies were sent to town officials, who have 10 days to make any further comments, according to a spokeswoman for DiNapoli. A copy was obtained by the Poughkeepsie Journal.
The board also set a special meeting on a retirement incentive plan offered by the state that could save the town some money. That meeting will be at 5 p.m. Aug. 30 at the Fishkill Town Hall, Route 52.
A straw poll of board members found a split. Heather Malvarosa and Steven Ferguson were ready to vote, while Brian Callahan and Robert LaColla wanted more data about potential savings. All five members are Republicans.
Comptroller Robert Wheeling said two employees are eligible for the Part A of the state retirement option and six are eligible for Part B.
Town officials get to “target” posts in Part A, but not B. Savings from not paying salary are partially offset by charges to the town either as a lump sum or spread over five years. Wheeling gave as an example two unnamed employees earning in the mid $50,000 range whose retirements could save a net of $318,000 and $340,000 over the term. But no one has yet volunteered to go out early, and there will be a 30- to
90-day window for Part A and a 90-day window for
Part B volunteers to decide.
Actual amounts won’t be known until then, Pagones said, and if the board doesn’t adopt the plan, employees won’t have the option.
At a public hearing portion of the meeting , several members of the public raised questions, too, including whether posts vacated by early retirement would be filled and at what cost.
Resident Robert Principe said, “Yes, there’s savings, but from a staffing point of view, can the town afford to lose the competent ones that are leaving?
LaColla offered a resolution, defeated 4-1, to provide a compete accounting for money paid to the Wladis Law Firm since it was hired in November 2009 as a grant consultant. He also called for suspending payment.
LaColla said Pagones had told him bills came to $150,000 but that he had seen invoices for about $300,000. He said he knows of no grants resulting from the firm’s work.
Reach Craig Wolf at cwolf@poughkeepsiejournal.com or 845-437-4815.