Mar 14, 2011 • Susan Campriello • Poughkeepsie Journal
FISHKILL — While the supervisor says the latest report on town spending shows good news, the man who wants her job argues the document is incomplete.
The report on spending and revenue through March 8 that was released to the Town Board shows the town has spent $1.44 million, or about 18 percent, of it’s budget. The report comes months after the state Office of the Comptroller issued an audit critical of the town’s finances .
Supervisor Joan A. Pagones said the year-to-date report showed the town was “on budget” for spending.
“We’re in terrific shape with budgeting and revenues at this time,” she said.
The report, however, does not list the 2011 budgeted town expenses as approved by the town board last fall or revised budget numbers.
Councilman Robert LaColla, who is seeking the Republican Party nomination for supervisor, said the omissions mean the document fails as a spending gauge.
“It is missing the information we need to do the analysis to do the year-to-date comparison,” he said. It also lacks a narrative explaining the numbers, he said.
Pagones and Town Comptroller Robert Wheeling said town staff had difficulty feeding 2011 budget numbers into the software used to generate the budget report. Pagones said a complete document would be printed this week, when the software problem is fixed.
Each council member has a copy of the final budget, she said.
“All they have to do is follow along with their budget booklets,” she said.
Councilman Brian Callahan said a budget report should reconcile revenues and expenditures with the actual budget numbers.
“We shouldn’t have to,” he said.
Pagones said she would provide board members with updated budget reports around the time of every board meeting, and that reports would be on meeting agendas.
Wheeling said $316,900 has been used for debt payments. He said payments are due at certain times in the year.
In August, the state Comptroller’s Office issued an audit that showed a deficit of $4.9 million from 2008 through February 2010. Pagones has disputed that figure.
The budget report shows that $1.02 million in revenues had come into the townwide general fund, and $680,700, or 17.9 percent of the fund’s budget, had been spent so far. The town has received $1.27 million in revenues for the town-outside-village general fund, and so far $450,500, or 15.9 percent of the fund’s budgeted amount, had been spent. Revenues for the townwide highway fund had come in at $545,600 and its expenses at $83,100, or 14.9 percent of the fund’s budget.
Town-outside-village highway fund revenues were $953,300, and expenses have cost $228,800, or 23.9 percent of the budgeted amount.
Reach Susan Campriello at scampriell@poughkee.gannett.com or 845-451-4518.