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Local Updates (24/7) Auditors review Colonie finances Posted on: 09/28/09 Written by: Ariana Cohn, Reporter email: cohna@spotlightnews.com Auditors from Bollam, Sheedy, Torani & Co. LLP spoke to the Colonie Town Board and members of the public Thursday, Sept. 24, presenting draft financial statements and opinions on what the town could be doing to better manage its finances. The auditors, George Person, senior government consultant, and Anton Mirtschev, audit manager, presented the board with only a few suggestions, which included taking an inventory of capital assets, monitoring which items are purchased immediately versus which are paid off over time and a continuation of budgetary monitoring. “Taking of capital asset inventory hasn’t been done in a number of years,” Mirtschev said. Once the capital asset inventory is complete, Mirtschev said, the town can have a better scope of what it has, and potentially what assets it could sell. Mirtschev recommended to the board a closer look into the segregation of duties when it comes to accounting for EMS funds. He also said the town has begun working on a system that would create a more thorough procedure for accounting in the EMS department. Person spoke of the three major non-governmental funds that are run within the town: Pure Waters (the town’s sewer system), Latham Water and the town landfill. While the town is technically allowed to take money from Latham Water and the landfill and move it into the general fund to balance the fund, Person did not necessarily recommend moving money from non-governmental funds to governmental funds. In 2008, Person said the town did take money from the landfill and move it to the general fund. The landfill was a major topic last year, when auditors from BST came to the Town Board with draft financial statements from 2007. During the 2007 presentation, auditors advised that the town be putting away money for post-closure costs that will affect the town in several years (the amount of time at which the money will be needed has been argued by Supervisor Paula Mahan and Republican Town Board members ranging from eight years to 15 years). The town is expected to need several million dollars for the post-closure costs. “Over the number of years, instead of setting these funds aside, these subsidies, have been sent over to the general fund,” Person said. Person also said that the landfill had a good year this year, bringing in an additional $3 million that was not originally projected, and that when the landfill has a good year, it means more is being deposited there. If the landfill were to continue to follow this trend, it would technically be filled quicker and the post-closure money would be needed sooner. Mahan told the board that the town has received a request for $8 million to be set aside in 2010 and 2011 for landfill closure costs from the town’s environmental services director. “We do have to prepare for that,” she said. Mahan also said that while the town has been using money from the landfill to balance out the general fund, that it is not a good practice to rely on that money, even though Person said it is legal to do so. “It’s not a good process to deplete that fund and to rely on that fund.” Mahan said she hopes that the town will soon get to a point where it can stand on its own two feet and not rely on landfill funds to balance the general fund. “I think that we’ve made major progress through 2008,” she said. “[We’re] trying to look into every single area and see where we can improve.” Person responded by saying, “Our experience is that the situation will improve based on our recommendations.” The “situation,” which was not spoken of during the presentation by the auditors is the town’s multi-million dollar deficit, which was last pegged at around $16 million by Mahan during a press conference last month. During the press conference, Mahan said she would continue to try and cut the deficit through attrition and sale of town assets, and that at this time, no job cuts or hike in taxes was being considered. But at the conclusion of their presentation, Person told the board that sometimes, tax raises are inevitable. “It’s hard when governments don’t face up to the fact that they have to raise taxes,” he said, adding that sooner or later, if the town does not raise taxes, they will catch up. For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com, or read the Wednesday, Sept. 30 print edition of the Colonie Spotlight.You can contact cohna@spotlightnews.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below. Comments powered by Disqus |
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