DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO?? Anonymous ... August 16, 2011 5:07 AM asks a number of excellent questions. I've repeated the comment here and have attempted to provide answers of the same caliber.
"Dear Jack and Pete:
How about your insightful analysis and comments about the finanacial perfomance of our CFO and Supervisor Rick McCabe and our Town Board? How do you analyze their fiscal wisdom and financial leadership? How do you assess the McCabe junk bond rating response: "We're hoping the economy turns around".
Can you share with all of us citizens a written copy of the town's CFO/ Supervisor and Town Board's plan to recover from our deficit spending and junk bond rating?
Tip O'Neil famously said: "All politics is local". Please apply your thoughful comments to the financial leadership of Supervisor McCabe and this Town Board.
How about applying your analytical skills to the work and more especially to the accomplishments of the CFAC? How about a side by side comparison of the work and accomplishments of the CFAC to the Finance Committee disbanded by the current Town Board?
How about finding and sharing with all of us where that nefarious $3.2 to $3.5 million owed us by Rensselaer is, was or went?
How about your research and talents applied to our town's contining expenditures on overtime?
We would all appreciate such a, hopefully, non partisan analysis.
Thank you.
August 16, 2011 5:07 AM"
* * * * *
Anonymous:
I'm honored and flattered that you've placed me in the company of Jack Conway. I have the utmost respect for Jack and his wisdom, insights and calm demeanor. However, I go it alone here, as I am confident that my comments will upset some folks in town.
I'm honored and flattered that you've placed me in the company of Jack Conway. I have the utmost respect for Jack and his wisdom, insights and calm demeanor. However, I go it alone here, as I am confident that my comments will upset some folks in town.
Finanacial perfomance
The Supervisor has admitted that he's "not a finance guy" and there is no requirement in law that a candidate for that position to be "a finance guy". Nor is he, to my knowledge, a CPA, certified planner, licensed engineer, licensed attorney, building inspector, police officer, sewer treatment plant operator, water plant operator, truck driver or snow plow operator, etc., etc. That is why Towns hire people to do these jobs. Section 125 of the Town Law states "Duties of supervisor. Except where duties specified herein are devolved upon the town comptroller pursuant to section thirty-four of this chapter, the supervisor of each town shall have the following duties:".
East Greenbush HAS a Town Comptroller. Comptroller Breig has my complete confidence, respect and support (Disclosure - I am not saying this solely because Jim's parents and I have been neighbors for 27 years).
There have been oversights made in the past. Stipends, for example, have reportedly been paid for decades under both Democrats AND Republicans. The deficit spending and inter-fund borrowings have occurred for years under both Democrat AND Republican Town Boards. There will likely be errors made in the future under Democrats OR Republicans. The Town Board has been under Democrat "control" for less than one year, since November 10, 2010, to be precise. I've not agreed with everything the Town Board has done and voiced my concerns in private. Overall, I'd say they're doing quite well.
Deficit spending and junk bond rating
After the Moody's downgrade of the Town's bond rating, the Town Board retained the services of Fiscal Advisors and Marketing, Inc. to rehabilitate the rating (26-2010 Resolution to Authorize Professional Contractual Services, adopted January 13, 2010). Many of the recommendations contained in the Fiscal Advisors and Marketing, Inc. report have been successfully implemented. As a result of the Town's actions to address its financial situation, Moody's upgraded the "negative outlook" to "stable" in March of this year. Remember, the Town's financial situation took years to develop and will take years to resolve. The November 6, 2008 State Comptroller's letter states "The general fund balance has decreased from a positive position of $112,436 at December 31, 2005 to a deficit of $859,087 at December 31, 2007. The highway fund balance has decreased from a reported deficit of $623,152 at December 31, 2005 to a deficit of $902,644 at December 31, 2007." This occurred under the Town Board and not just the Supervisor. Bear in mind, that while the inter-fund borrowing occurred, General Fund and Highway Fund tax increases were suppressed. In any event, progress has been made.
According to Moody's March 1, 2011 Rating Upgrade: "The town's fiscal 2011 budget represents a decrease of 0.3% or $43,000 from the previous year's actual revenues, including conservative budgeting for sales tax (4.2% decline) and mortgage tax (16.1% decline). Beginning in January 2010 the newly hired town comptroller implemented a number of new policies and procedures to control expenses and budget revenues. Reflective of that is the increase in various user rates, the pay down of Bond Anticipation Notes and the elimination of at least $175,000 of the accumulated deficit. Moody's believes that while positive steps have been taken, management must prove the ability to fully implement the recovery plan." http://www.moodys.com/research/MOODYS-AFFIRMS-THE-Ba1-GO-RATING-ON-THE-TOWN-OF?lang=en&cy=global&docid=RU_16843827
Councilpersons Cristo and Danaher vacated their Town Board seats prior to the March 10, 2010 Town Board Meeting, thus, the new policies and procedures cited by Moody's occurred under the direction of the Democrats, including the Supervisor, even though they lacked a voting majority until November 10, 2010.
If one insists, as many do, on blaming the Supervisor for the financial problems, then HE deserves the credit for the Rating Upgrade and the improvements cited by Moody's.
Furthermore, the Democrat-developed 2011 Adopted Budget includes $270,000 to pay down a portion of the Inter-fund Balances ($175,000 in the General Fund and $95,000 in the Highway Fund).
You may mock the Supervisor's comment about the economy turning around, but the economy does matter. Mortgage rates are now at, or near, historic lows. Plans for a number of residential and commercial developments that were shelved due to the recession are being dusted off and are resurfacing. These developments should generate revenues for the Town, including building permit and safety inspection fees, mortgage tax and sales tax. They will also generate mitigation fees. Residential developments and non-IDA commercial projects add to the all-important tax base of both the County, Town and School District.
The Supervisor and Town Board are working with the Chamber of Commerce and the East Greenbush Business Alliance to attract development. The Town also has an excellent working relationship with the Rensselaer County IDA.
Financial leadership
The Democrats have had the majority a scant nine months. Nevertheless, I believe Moody's March 1, 2011 Rating Upgrade attests to "the financial leadership of Supervisor McCabe and this Town Board." Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee
As Chair of the Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee (CFAC) I can provide a "non partisan" but not unbiased "side by side comparison of the work and accomplishments of the CFAC to the Finance Committee". I will therefore focus on the accomplishments of the CFAC. Notwithstanding this approach, I will state that the CFAC completed tasks that the Finance Committee initiated, namely: - The development and adoption of Town Organization Charts (66-2011 Adoption of Town Organization Charts); and
- The revision of the Town's Procurement Policy, with the able assistance of Purchasing Agent Angelina Cadena (67-2011 Adoption of Procurement Policy).
The CFAC is developing:
- A review of and report on the Town's June 30, 2011 (mid-year) operating statements for presentation to the Town Board and posting on the Town's web site.
- A Long-Term Financial Plan, using an OSC template, which will be completed for the past years upon completion of the 2010 Audit by Toski, Schaefer & Co., P.C. and the filing of the Annual Update Document to ensure that 2010 data is correct. The Long -Term Financial Plan is intended to project various scenarios concerning the out years; and
- An Asset Inventory which will yield critical information as to the useful life of Town equipment and enable the Department Heads and the Town Board to anticipate, plan and budget for long-term replacement of equipment.
These projects may prove to be very useful to the Town Board in light of the recently enacted Two-Percent Tax Cap.
$3.2 to $3.5 million owed us by Rensselaer
Supervisor McCabe announced at the July Town Board meeting that the City of Rensselaer had made a payment for the past monies owed to East Greenbush (I've since learned that the payment was in excess of $600,000). Rensselaer has also reportedly committed, in writing, to make future payments on a quarterly basis. It is my understanding that these monies will be used to restore Water District Fund Balances and to make future payments against the bonds issued for past Water District capital improvements. overtime EXPENDITURES
I'll ask you to do what you ask of Jack and me … "How about your research and talents applied to our town's continuing expenditures on overtime?" I believe this to be generalization on your part and I prefer to deal in specifics. Please provide me with specifics and I'll attempt to reply. In general, I am personally of the opinion that certain overtime expenditures are unavoidable. Snow storms, traffic accidents, robberies, burglaries, water main breaks, sewer line breaks, etc., do not maintain a regular 9-5, M-F schedule, but rather a 24/7 schedule.
It is my understanding that training the police officers and the part-time dispatchers hired earlier this year required overtime for either the officers or dispatchers providing the training or to cover their posts while they trained the new hires. To me, this would represent an expected and accepted uptick in OT expenses.
It is also my understanding that certain of the Town's collective bargaining agreements with the unions require dual coverage for safety's sake and that when a person assigned to a post is absent, be it vacation, sick leave, worker's comp, etc., another person must fill the post.
Pete Stenson
Nice job Pete
ReplyDeletePete - you are to be commended for entertaining these "witch-hunt" type questions from Ray Mooney and Co. The sad part is they could care less what the truth is, they'll only twist your answers to suit the needs of the few survivors over there on the "other" blog.
ReplyDeleteTaylor and her infamous temper, Don - the angry man - Johnson and Freihofer man Mooney care little about truth- they only care to slander and embarass people they don't like ! Case in point- Jack Conway - they invite him to write what he knows, and when he answers - they slander and libel him endlessly on their bullshit blog!
My response to Mooney and Johnson, Taylor and her boyfriend(s) :
MOVE if your so dissatisfied with Town Government. Despite your foolish rantings, the Town is progressing quite well !
Dear anonymous-( Ray Mooney) ; read this and give me the tea-party version of exactly how you people would handle this ! Be specific so when I get your answer, I can analyze it word by word and scrutinize its every nuance ! read below from todays NY post!
ReplyDelete" Local employers expect big increases in healthcare costs in 2012, and say they'll pass more and more of those costs on to their workers. That's the result of a new survey by the National Business Group on Health, a trade group for most municipalities and large companies.
"It's a huge burden on businesses and employers," says Helen Darling, the group's president. "Healthcare costs continue to gallop along at over seven percent." Members say they expect their 2012 costs to be 7.2 percent above their 2011 costs, which are trending 7.4 percent above 2010 costs. (Separately, Standard & Poor's reported more modest increases in actual healthcare costs. The average per capita cost of healthcare services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare programs increased by 5.61 percent over the 12 months ending in June 2011. Click here to see the study: http://link.reuters.com/mup33s)
That means bigger expenses for workers, who will be asked to pick up more of those costs. More than half of the companies say they'll increase the percentage that employees contribute to premiums, while 39 percent say they'll increase deductibles for workers who stay in-network for their healthcare.
Other employee burdens that can be expected to rise are out-of-network deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. Companies are also moving away from fixed-rate co-pays, moving instead to cost-sharing models that require employees to pay a percentage share of all rising costs, says Darling.
"Employers are being much more aggressive in their use of cost-sharing techniques and cost-control programs," she says, adding that in 2012, companies can be expected to pay almost $12,000 per employee for healthcare costs.
Ouch. That's definitely adding insult to injury or illness. What can employees to do to keep their own healthcare costs from eating the family budget? Here are some tips to consider, as open enrollment season looms in the not-too-distant future.
Hey - the DOW fell 419 points today- wonder how long before Johnson and Mooney, Grant and Taylor find a way to blame that on McCabe and OBrien ??
ReplyDeleteNo doubt they're working on the blame game right now....these things take a little time.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the Dow drop, there's good news in the Capital District ...
ReplyDeleteCapital Region adds 3,200 jobs in July
The Business Review - by Adam Sichko
Date: Friday, August 19, 2011, 6:26am EDT
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/morning_call/2011/08/capital-region-adds-3200-jobs-in-july.html
Pete Stenson
There's more:
ReplyDeleteHouse sales in Albany area up for first time in 12 months
The Business Review - by Michael DeMasi
Date: Thursday, August 18, 2011, 9:39am EDT
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2011/08/18/house-sales-in-albany-area-up-for.html
Pete Stenson
Folks, I'm flattered. The East Greenbush Blog has started a whole new (anonymous) posting entitled "Another Guest Post......" to rebut my "Dear Jack and Pete:" posting.
ReplyDeleteMy reply is as follows.
THE WHOLE TRUTH and DISINGENUOUS
Weren't Messrs. Cristo, Danaher and Matters Town Board Members for a few years before Messrs. Cristo and Danaher CHOSE to serve on the County Legislature rather than the EG Town Board by signing their County Oaths of Office.
Are Messrs. Cristo, Danaher and Matters not, in part, culpable for the "deficit increase of $2,000,000 over 3 years from 2006 -2008!" IF they were on the Town Board and IF they voted for the Budgets? Or didn't they know what they were doing all those years?
They were on the Town Board through the February 10, 2010 meeting. What did they do during those 15 months to address the November 6, 2008 OSC Report?
Did they not form their alliance well before the beginning of 2010, say, around the time that Mr. Cristo decided to run for County Legislature on the Republican ticket?
OSC's Report did not call for a "recovery plan". Rather, it said "Good management practices require that Town officials take prompt action concerning our recommendations to help improve the Town’s financial condition." Note that the OSC Report was addressed to "Rick McCabe, Supervisor (and)
Members of the Town Board"
OSC's Report also states "The Town has proposed a reasonable budget for 2009, with more realistic appropriation estimates. Now, the Town officials should make concerted efforts to keep expenditures within this budget to avoid increasing existing deficits." Note, OSC says "Town officials" and not "Town Supervisor".
MOODY'S and FINANACIAL PERFOMANCE
To quote Ronald Reagan, "There you go again". Blame the Supervisor for all the problems and give all the credit to the Republicans. Despite the fact that numerous comments on the East Greenbush Blog proclaim that the Supervisor is the "CFO" of East Greenbush … I guess only when things go wrong and not when they go right.
Furthermore, concerning the "Danaher, Matters, Cristo budget", the adoption of a budget is one thing. The EXECUTION of a budget is a whole different animal (Although I'm not putting words in his mouth, I believe Mr. Johnson will concur on this).
I've also stated on numerous occasions that Town Law Section 64 places full responsibility for "the general management and control of the finances of the town" on the Town Board. These statements were generally countered with statements to the effect that "McCabe is the CFO" and "he's responsible". WHICH IS IT, FOLKS?
REVALUATION
I've argued in much earlier 'discussions' that revaluations DO NOT result in $1,000,000 tax increases and quoted the NYS Office of Real Property Services - "You can think of the total amount of taxes collected by the city, school district or county as a pie. The assessor does not determine the size of the pie – that is the job of city councils, town boards, school boards and county legislatures. The assessor's job is to ensure that the pie is cut up fairly – that taxes are fairly distributed based on current market values." http://www.orps.state.ny.us/pamphlet/reassessqa.html
So, that 2009 tax increase was NOT DUE to the revaluation, but the 2009 Budget. The vote on that Budget was as follows:
98-2008 Adoption of the Annual Budget for the Fiscal Year 2009 - 11/12/08
McCABE - YES
KENNEDY - YES
CRISTO - YES
MATTERS - NO
DANAHER - ABSENT
CITIZENS FISCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND OVERTIME
I'll stand by my comments on the Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee and Overtime. FYI, I made a motion at one Finance Committee meeting to recommend that the Town Board retain a CPA firm to conduct an audit of the Town's books for 2009. The vote was tabled mid-way through.
Pete Stenson
Don Johnson , (the angry man , Einstein in training) , thinks he has the answers to ALL of East Greenbushs financial problems.
ReplyDeleteDon , believes that the slate of no name candidates proposed by Defruscio will solve ALL the Towns problems identifed by Johnson! Woo-hoot ....OK I'm ROFLMAO !! Tears of Joy - Don has truley gone off his meds and is in dire need of a drink ! DYFM- GSIYH ! Understand that??
btw: Thanks Pete for the informative response to the inaccurate,bloated diatribe by Johnson of the Cristo/Taylor liars blog!
As I mentioned in my August 21, 2011 8:48 AM comment, the East Greenbush Blog has started a whole new (anonymous) posting entitled "Another Guest Post......" to rebut my "Dear Jack and Pete:" posting.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, I've submitted my reply four (4) times to East Greenbush Blog (getting the little "Your comment will be visible after approval." thingy each time) without it being published (I guess it doesn't meet their "approval" standards). I also submitted a copy to two of Ann's e-mail addresses. NADA.
I'd think that when you start a post with "Mr. Stenson" and it is repeated in the post and ensuing comments, you'd welcome comments from "Mr. Stenson". Especially when "Mr. Stenson" is accused of not telling "the WHOLE truth" and called "a bit disingenuous". That's what I call "disingenuous"!
I guess I've struck a nerve or two over there. Remember the old saying "the truth hurts"? Oh well.
Thanks for posting my comments here, EG Talks.
Pete Stenson
Your ALWAYS welcome to post here Pete !
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletedearest 444pm - nice try. You were warned though...
ReplyDelete