Observer-Dispatch
Posted Mar 26, 2009 @
08:25 PM
NEW
We would
not normally recommend that a municipality add any new positions during these
difficult financial times. Taxpayers cannot afford it.
But in the town of New Hartford, taxpayers can no longer afford not to create a
new position.
Actually, it’s an old position — comptroller. The position was eliminated in
January 2002 by then-Town Supervisor Ralph Humphreys and approved by the Town
Board as a way to save money.
Quite the opposite has been true. Since the job was scrapped, taxpayers have
had to pay an inordinate amount of money for accounting and financial services
— work that could largely be handled by a professional financial officer.
Most recently it was learned that New Hartford paid far more than planned for
an accounting consultant who was called on to do a lot more than accounting. As
a result, the town paid FJ Basile CPAs, PC, $147,957 instead of the $75,000 it
had budgeted for services since hiring the firm in September 2007.
Basile was hired initially to handle accounting and budget issues. But the firm
wound up being asked to handle broader town matters, including negotiations
involving the New Hartford Business Park and a proposed stop light on state
Route 840 to serve that park.
Those are matters that Town Supervisor Earle Reed, the Town Board and the town
attorney should have been handling.
Reed has left the impression that he’s disengaged from important town matters.
And that might be part of the problem. He spends some of the winter at his home
in Florida and is often difficult to reach. That’s troubling because a town
supervisor needs to be easily accessible and fully engaged with the town. That
is especially so in New Hartford, which has positioned itself as the region’s
commercial hub and retail center.
The budgeted amount for the comptroller’s salary in 2001 — the year before the
job was eliminated — was $38,110. Last year, the town’s lone financial
caretaker — bookkeeper Carol Fairbrother, who is paid $31.32 per hour and gets
regular pay 35 hours per week — also was awarded $71,544 for overtime worked
between 2002 and 2007.
When Basile’s firm was hired, there was a backlog of work to be done, town
officials said. He had to update accounting procedures to meet federal
guidelines, and he also updated the town’s internal control systems, policies
and procedures. As a result, the compensation to Basile far exceeded what was
budgeted.
New Hartford appeared ready to continue down this path, budgeting $100,000 for
Basile in 2009. But the town pulled back last month, perhaps not coincidentally
after the Concerned Citizens of New Hartford group began asking questions.
Clearly, the town should be abiding by common practice for professional
services contracts and ensure that the work to be done and the amount to be
paid are delineated upfront. More important, however, Reed needs to make clear
to town residents that he’s active in representing their interests and in
managing their tax dollars.
He can start by strongly recommending the town reinstate the position of
comptroller.
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