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Finance IssuesSee also: Procurement Issues, Foreclosure , Capital Projects, Budget Issues , Open Space Fund Sultana Ridge Association Town Board, 4/3/2012 During Courtesy of the Floor: Calling the board’s attention to the fact that as of the new April tax bill, the Sultana Ridge Association will owe the Town $44,000 in back taxes, Ed Ciffone wanted to know when this will stop. The only solution he saw was reducing the pool’s assessment to zero. Town Board, 2/7/2012 With three affirmative votes and an abstention from Councilman Patel, the board voted to remove Sultana Ridge, Inc. from the 2008 foreclosure proceeding. In support of the resolution, Councilman Paganelli said that the action would not set a precedent and that the owners did have a plan “to try” to pay the back taxes over two years. If they don’t, he said, the town can revisit the issue after two years. Supervisor Grace said the vote was a way to help the owners help the town, repeating comments he made at an earlier meeting that it didn’t make sense for the town to take the property in an in rem proceeding which would take the property off the tax rolls and also create a liability for the town. He said he resented the implication that the board was giving special treatment to some people. Town Board, 1/24/2012 Three representatives of the Association appeared before the board asking for a change in the property’s tax assessment. (Note: the Association owns a neighborhood swimming pool but it is not a “homeowners’ association.”) Supervisor Grace called the property, which is included in a pending foreclosure action, a “toxic liability” and said that the liability to the town of foreclosing and then having to fill in an empty pool was greater than the amount of money owed in back taxes. His recommendation was to take the property out of the foreclosure proceeding. Given the physical constraints of the property, it said it would be very expensive to fill in the pool if the town took the property in rem, something the town did many years ago when it acquired the Tall Timbers site. Town Attorney Koster advised the board that Jen Fava, the Superintendent of Parks & Recreation has said that her department has no interest in using the pool. Gordon Fine, spokesperson for the Association, explained that membership in the pool is limited to 70 families and that from year to year to Association didn’t know how much money it would be taking in. He said that the Association had filed tax certiorari suits in an effort to get its assessment reduced. Both Ms. Koster and Councilman Bianco noted that the property had some value because it had a pool and two buildings on it. Ms. Koster explained to the board that the Association had previously informed the town that it did not have the money to pay approximately $30,000 in back taxes, nor could it pay off the amount in 24 months, the legal time limit on installment payments that is set by state law. Councilman Bianco asked Ms. Koster to summarize a memo she had sent to the board on the issue that outlined an alternate way to resolve the issue in the event the board took the property off the foreclosure list. There was no discussion about this alternate approach. The discussion concluded with Supervisor Grace directing the attorney to prepare a resolution that would take the property out of the foreclosure proceeding. Ms. Koster said that if the Association signed an installment agreement, even knowing in advance that it could not and would not live up to the terms of the agreement, that that would automatically take the parcel out of the foreclosure proceedings. Supervisor Grace said that the outcome of the certiorari cases that the Association has filed might resolve the assessment issue.
Procurement Issues (see also Legislation) Computer Issues Town Board, 5-8-2012 Using recycled printer cartridges The first part of the discussion focused on the advisability of using recycled cartridges for printers. (The toner for copiers is included in the maintenance contract price.) Glenn Sullivan of Sullivan Data, the Town’s IT consultant explained that one of the provisions of his current contract states that as long as the Town uses “new” toner cartridges, in the event a cartridge leaks and does damage to the printer, his firm will absorb the cost of the repairsand a printer replacement if needed. If the Town used “recycled” cartridges, any repair or replacement costs would have to be borne by the Town.Comptroller Goldberg said that there was less than a 10% differential between the price of new and recycled cartridges. The board decided to go out to bid for both new and recycled cartridges, but agreed to Ms. Goldberg’s suggestion that the bid specs state that the vendor would be responsible for the cost of repairs and/or replacement in the event the cartridge leaked. Computer hardware In response to questions from Supervisor Grace and Councilman Murphy, Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Sullivan explained that it has been the Town’s practice over many years to budget a fixed amount each year for computer upgrades and to rotate “older” machines to less critical departments and users. The Town typically uses equipment for 5-8 years. Mr. Sullivan advised against upgrading old equipment in lieu of replacing it with newer models because of software compatibility problems and also because upgraded machines operated more slowly. He prepared a spreadsheet listing the proposed new purchases for 2012 there was based on meetings with department heads. Supervisor Grace questioned why the Town doesn’t buy used computers or outsource the email server. (One of the proposed new items was a new email server.) In response, Ms. Goldberg said that the cost of outsourcing the email for the 150 employees (out of a staff of 250 people) would be more expensive than purchasing the additional server, The Supervisor will review the spreadsheet prior to the Board advertising for bids for the new equipment.Although Mr. Sullivan estimated the package at $60,000, he said that the bids typically come in lower. The 2012 budget includes $50,000 for the new equipment.
A discussion over awarding the bid for laboratory services needed by the sewage treatment plant (see the March 13 and March 20 summaries for laboratory services)spilled over into a broader discussion of the Town’s procurement policy andthe desire of Supervisor Grace and Councilman Paganelli to do more to purchase goods and services from Yorktown vendors. Two bids were received for the laboratory services: $24,000 from Yorktown Medical Labs and $17,000 from a firm in Newburgh that has done work for the Town in the past and has the proper certification to do the required testing. The Newburgh firm will come to Yorktown to pick up the time sensitive samples as part of its price. While Supervisor Grace would have preferred to have awarded the bid to Yorktown Medical Labs, he said he saw a problem paying 30% more for the same service. Councilmen Murphy and Paganelli were more concerned,however, that a local business should be awarded the bid even though the price was higher. Saying that he had campaigned on a “buy local” platform, Councilman Paganellii said the town wasn’t doing enough to honor that pledge and he brought up several hypotheticals about what would happen if the non-Yorktown firm got stuck in traffic and couldn’t pick up the samples within the required time period. The board will vote to award the bid next week. Councilman Paganelli also stated that he didn’t understand why a town employee had to travel to Home Depot to buy a 60 cent item when they could buy it at Mitchelll Hardware. A discussion ensured about Supervisor Grace’s goal to pass a “best value” local law that would give the town more leeway to use local vendors. Prior to 2012, state law required towns to award bids to the lowest “responsible” bidder. Under a new law that went into effect in January, 2012, the Town can award bids based also on “best value.” Supervisor Grace said that the Town law would have to set up criteria for determining what was “best value.” That might be within a state, he suggested, but he wasn’t sure if the criteria could specify within a town.He has requested the town attorney to draft a best value law. The law, he said, would only cover items that met the bid threshold which is $20,000 for goods and services.The Town’s procurement policy requires three quotes for items under the bid threshold. With quotes, he said, the Town can buy local without violating the procurement policy.
The board unanimously approved a resolution to enter into a $40,000 contract to purchase the software that will enable all town departments to utilize the purchase order software. Comptroller Goldberg explained that upon further review, it turned out that installing the software in two phases would be more costly because of the additional training time required. Councilman Bianco said that the introduction of the new software might lead to changes in the town’s procurement policy.
Town Board, 2/28/2012 The board unanimously approved a resolution exempting the Police Department from the town’s procurement policy and authorizing the department to spend $13,794.50 for Motorola communications equipment, programming and installation.
Town Board, 2/14/2012 (See January 25, 2012 meeting notes for background on the software.) Stating that the board was conceptually onboard with moving ahead to install the software but would have to do so in phases due to monetary concerns, the board voted 4-0 to authorize the supervisor to proceed with a contract with KVS for $18,000 that included $13,000 for the software and $5,000 for training to enable a first group of departments to test out the system.There was no discussion as to which departments would be in Phase 1.Supervisor Grace said he hoped the new system would speed up payments and Councilman Murphy said the system would help department heads and elected officials know how much money the town was actually spending. Supervisor Grace asked the owner of KVS to “sharpen his pencil” when it came to making the system available for the remaining departments which, based on the initial proposal, would cost an additional $18,000. In response to a question from Councilman Paganelli whether the cost of the software would be any different if purchased all at once or in phases, the KVS representative said there would no difference, and Comptroller Joan Goldberg said that her staff might be able to do some of the training for subsequent phases in order to lower training costs. In response to a question from Ken Belfer, head of the Mohegan Lake Improvement District as to whether the special park districts would be using the system, Ms. Goldberg said that they would not be hooked into the online system and would have to continue doing their POs manually.
Special Town Board Meeting, 1/25/2012 The Town Board held a joint meeting with staff to consider changes to the Town’s Procurement Policy. Supervisor Grace opened the meeting by talking about complaints and concerns he had received from town staff about delays in paying bills and ordering goods and services. He said that it was difficult to assess the Town’s financial situation when the town had $4 million in open purchase orders and he couldn’t get a straight number as to what the Town’s fund balance was. He said that the meeting wasn’t to point fingers but rather to figure out a better system while fulfilling the town’s fiduciary responsibility of making sure that taxpayer money was being spent appropriately. He thought that some of the comments in the recent state auditor’s report were super silly, petty and unfounded. The focus of the meeting was a presentation from KVS, the software company whose product the Finance Department uses to manage the Town’s financial records as well as the purchase order system which is currently part electronic and part manual. The presentation described how the system could become 100% electronic and still comply with state laws that require original hard copies of certain financial documents for audit purposes. He added that the state was currently reviewing its guidelines regarding original vs electronic copies. Supervisor Grace said that other revisions to the Procurement Policy that are being considered, along with the move to an electronic system which he appeared to support, are giving department heads greater discretion in approving orders, with possibly different thresholds for different departments, and getting bids for auto parts that are needed on a routine basis. He said that the town should try to purchase from local vendors.
Supervisor Grace asked for feedback from staff before deciding if the investment in the new software was worthwhile.
Town Board, 3/6/2012 Tax installment agreements: Councilman Bianco, responding to a question asked at the last board meeting, said that seven out of 45 tax installment agreements were in default. He said that initially he was told there was only one default, but that he later learned that the actual number was higher.
Supervisor Grace asked for board volunteers to form a subcommittee to review the parcels on the 2008 foreclosure list and report back to the board. After several councilman volunteered and it was pointed out that three councilman can’t meet together without noticing an official meeting of the board, it was decided that Councilman Bianco would visit the sites with the Supervisor. Councilman Paganelli said that each parcel had to be looked at individually.Town Attorney Koster explained that the 2008 list was a “clean up” list and Town Comptroller Goldberg explained that it was only after new software was installed in the tax office that the town was able to develop ana list of parcels with liens. Ms. Koster said the 2009 foreclosure list was much smaller.
Town Board, 2/21/2012 During Courtesy of the Floor, SusanSiegel (the person writing these notes) repeated several questions about the status of the 2008 foreclosure proceedings which, she said, she had asked two weeks earlier at the February 7th meeting but which hadnot been answered. She said the town had wasted over $250,000 paying taxes on property that should have been taken off the tax rolls years ago and that it wasn’t fair for responsible taxpayers to bear the burden of those taxpayers who didn’t pay their taxes. In response, Supervisor Grace said that the town wasn’t going to throw people out of their homes and that the foreclosure issue would be discussed at an upcoming work session. Councilman Bianco said that he would check with the tax receiver to get an answer to Ms. Siegel’s question about how many people were in default on their installment agreements. He saw nothing wrong in her asking the question and in being entitled to an answer.
Town Board, 2/7/2012 During Courtesy of the Floor, Susan Siegel (the person writing these notes) asked the board a series of questions dealing with the status of the foreclosure proceedings for55 properties remaining properties on the list that owe $1.8 million in back taxes.The board did not respond to her questions
Town Board, 4/17/2012 Highway garage. In response to comments he has received regarding his earlier statements about relocating the highway garage to the “Hill” on Greenwood Street, Mr. Grace said that he would be his hope that the Town would be able to recoup the cost of the new building from the proceeds of the sale of the current site, and then some.He said the “Hill” site has little to no market value but can serve a municipal use. The project, he added, needs lots of discussion and is a “long way off.” During Courtesy of the Floor, Ray Arnold took exception one of the Supervisor’s reasons for the relocation, namely, the need for indoor storage in order to protect the Town’s investment in its vehicles and equipment. Pointing out that the school buses are parked outside and that they look okay, what was needed, he said, was better maintenance and supervision.
Saying that the board should have an idea of what the Town’s long term infrastructure needs are before it decides to spend money on a project, Supervisor Grace asked Planning Director John Tegeder to come up with a prioritized list of potential projects.Mr. Tegeder gave the board copies of the capital projects list his department compiled last year based on input from department heads and he said he would ask department heads for an updated list. In addition to citing a leak in the Police Department roof, Supervisor Grace repeated his interest in relocating the highway garage to the Hill on Greenwood Street so that the current site, which he called an eyesore in the center of town, could be redeveloped. He envisioned holding a forum with area stakeholders, much like the Route 202 forum, to discuss a future village-like area that could include Railroad Park and Richard Place. In response, Councilman Paganelli expressed concern about potential environmental issues on the site. These were dispelled by Highway Superintendent DiBartolo who joined the conversation midway through the discussion. Mr. DiBartolo said that the area had been cleaned up several years ago when additions were put on the original building that was constructed in 1957. He went on to highlight the advantages of centralizing all the Town’s equipment in one location, adding how much better Downing Park would look if the existing Parks Department maintenance facility could be relocated to the Hill. He estimated that the proposed “butler building” type of structure could cost $500,000-$600,000. Joining the discussion, Acting Town Engineer Sharon Robinson advised the board that given the site’s proximity to the Hallocks Mill stream and its location in the watershed, state and city regulatory agencies might have a problem with siting a highway garage on the Hill, adding that even within the NYS DEC, one unit likes the existing leaf recycling pile while another unit is concerned about runoff into the nearby stream which feeds into the Croton Reservoir. Citing the rotting windows behind the board table as an example, Councilman Patel raised the issue of other possible high priority infrastructure needs. In response to a question from Councilman Murphy,Mr. Tegeder gave an update on the remaining streetscape projects still on the drawing board for the Heights hamlet but some of the follow up discussion was not audible to the audience. During a subsequent discussion of budget transfers, Comptroller Joan Goldberg’sresponse to a question about the $55,000 transfer to pay for a new cooling system at the court led to a broader discussion about the pending need to replace the heat pumps at the court and the overall need to have an assessment of each building’s needs as part of an assessment of the Town’s long term capital project needs. Supervisor Grace said that the Highway Department had completed an assessment, although he didn’t specify what that assessment included, and that the maintenance stafffor the YCCC/Town Hall and the library should prepare the assessment of the mechanical needsfor those buildings.
Town Board, 4/`17/2012 Reserve Fund: To create an Employee Benefit Accrued Liability Reserve Fund.Councilman Bianco explained that the Town had a $1.3 million liability to pay departing employees for their accrued vacation and sick time. Even though it was unlikely that all employees would leave at the same time, the Town’s auditors had recommended setting aside these funds.(Note: It was not clear if the Town was putting $1.3 million into the fund or only $800,000, a figure stated by Mr. Bianco.)Mr. Bianco said that after setting aside these funds , about $4.2 million would be left in the fund balance.
Budget transfers: A series of transfers were approved to fund the Town’s workers’ compensation and liability funds. (See 4/10/2012.)
The board reviewed, and subsequently approved, a list of 2011 budget transfers with Comptroller Joan Goldberg and a representative of the Town’s outside auditing firm. As part of the discussion, the board agreed with the auditor’s’ suggestion that a reserve fund be set up for “compensated absences,” i.e., the money the Town has to pay out for accumulated vacation time and sick time when an employee retires. As explained by Ms. Goldberg, when an employee gives the town advance notice of a pending retirement, the money can be put in the budget, but sometimes the Town is notified after the budget has been adopted and no money has been set aside to cover the expense. This happened in 2011 resulting in an unanticipated $45,000 expense for one department. Alternately, in the past, because a staff member gave notice of her intent to retire the following year, money was put in the following year’s budget to cover the expense but the person later changed her mind.The amount of fund balance money that will be set aside in this reserve fund was not discussed. In supporting the establishment of the fund, Supervisor Grace said that it wasn’t fair to future boards that would have to pick up these expenses that could be anticipated in advance. The board also agreed to a series of 2011 budget transfers for several capital funds that are still ongoing or have remaining debt service payments. Ms. Goldberg also advised the board that because the Town is self insured for workers’ compensation, it would have to transfer $270,000 into the Town’s Workers’ Compensation Fund, plus $200,000 into the Liability Fund as a reserve against pending liability claims.Both transfers will be apportioned to the Town’s various funds, as appropriate. For example, of the $200,000 needed for the Liability Fund, $140,000 will come from the Highway Fund.
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