1. Presented by Town Supervisor Susan Zimet August 22, 2013
Town of New Paltz Annual Report Overview Fiscal 2012 Where we were- Where we are going
Presented by
Town Supervisor Susan Zimet
August 22, 2013

2. Top Line Summary
Between the savings & increased revenues collected in the 2012 budget and the 2013 budget savings the taxpayers received a savings of:
A FUND: $1,341,882 ( town wide)
B FUND: $212,019 ( town outside village)

3. Overview
Upon arriving back at Town Hall last year, we walked into a mess.
The physical state of the building unfortunately reflected the financial state.
It has taken months to sort through the mess and clean up our working environment and our financial house.
There is still a long way to go on both of these issues.
However, tonight I will be focusing on the finances
It is critical that tax money is budgeted & spent wisely.

4. Overview
My promise as Town Supervisor was to deliver quality services and reduce the burden to the taxpayers
In order to accomplish this task we needed to get a handle on the financial state of the Town.

5. Backdrop
When I took office and needed to establish a baseline for our financial conditions, we needed to review the appropriate annual reports as mandated by the State as well as outside audits, also mandated by the State.
To our dismay, we discovered that the above financial documents were not available.
Early on it was also brought to my attention by State representatives that revenue from grants had not been pursued with the proper paperwork being filed
When doing due diligence, I also found out that federal money reimbursement from FEMA from Hurricane Irene had also been overlooked.

6. Backdrop
Having experienced an audit of the Town during my previous tenure as Supervisor, I have a basis for comparison
When the Town was audited during my last administration, the Comptroller was here for approximately two months
He was able to report in our exit interview that our audit showed one of the best managed towns around and we received a written report shortly afterwards
In comparison, during the former administration the NYS Comptroller was in Town Hall performing the audit for the 2010 budget for over over 10 months.
It took another year for the Comptroller to submit the report in writing to the Town ( September 2012)

7. Backdrop Upon receipt of the report the following was stated within:
“The Board and Supervisor have not provided effective financial oversight and budgetary controls … Without complete , accurate, and timely accounting records and reports, the Board cannot properly assess the Town's financial operations and financial conditions on an ongoing basis. … In addition , the lack of complete and timely reports increase the risk that the budget appropriations could be exceeded and potential operating deficits could occur and remain undetected and uncorrected, resulting in the continued deterioration of the Town’s financial condition.”

8. Backdrop Additionally the Comptroller reported:
“Town Law requires that, …annually, the Board must either perform an audit or retain the services of an independent auditor to perform this function.… The Board did not audit or cause to be audited the Supervisor’s financial records or the records of the other officials and departments that receive money as required. The failure to perform an annual audit hinders the Board’s ability to maintain accountability for the Town’s assets, protect those assets from loss, waste or abuse, achieve fiscal objectives , and ensure that the Town officers and employees follow established policies.”

9. Corrective Action
In order to get a handle on the finances we needed to implement some stringent and prudent fiscal policies
At the organizational meeting for the Town Board, I requested that the Board approve a policy that all expenditures need to be approved by the Supervisor.
Past practice was if it is in the budget , you can spend it.
While this is a practice every Supervisor should implement, it was critically important for this Town Board to have every expenditure reviewed and approved since the 2012 budget never went through a Public hearing or was properly vetted by the last Town Board

10. Corrective Action
One example of how this process proved successful and saved unnecessary expenditures can be illustrated when the Police department requested $1400 for their website redevelopment by Virtual Towns & Schools , the new web developers hired by the Town Board to deliver a new website for the Town.
Upon review, I was able to have the Police Department keep their own URL ( web address) and have a redirect to the Town site thereby making that expenditure unnecessary.
This is just one example of how stringent oversight paid dividends

11. Corrective Action
We also went through files to see what revenues were not collected and recreated all the necessary documentation needed for reimbursement
Department heads were asked to review their budgets and only request what was truly needed to run their departments until we got a handle on the budget and fiscal integrity of the Town
Despite the fact that all the union contracts were expired and long overdue for negotiations, we also put that on hold until we could get a handle on the Town’s finances

12. Unexpected Expenses
During the year, the Town was socked with unanticipated and non budgeted expenses.
Our Social Service costs billed to us by Ulster County almost doubled from $60,000 in the budget to $111,146
State Retirement was allocated at $284,458 but the bill from the State was $466,756
Police Retirement was budgeted at $ 447,605 but the bill from the State was $605,542
That was an increase of $391,381 in unexpected expenses we had to account for

13. Deliverables Despite the fiscal chaos we inherited
the unanticipated expenses incurred due to unfunded mandates from the State ($391,381) the management and oversight of the 2012 budget can be considered a great success.

14. Top Line Deliverables for 2012& 2013
Between the savings & increased revenues collected in the 2012 budget and the 2013 budget savings the taxpayers received a savings of: A FUND: $1,341,882 ( town wide) B FUND: $212,019 ( town outside village)

15. Deliverables In the A fund (Town wide) we saved
$559,282 -over a half million dollars in expenses.
We increased revenues by $116,696
The savings realized and the increased revenues collected increased the Town Fund balance by $675,978

16. Deliverables We were also successful with the B Fund
( Town outside the Village)
Spending was reduced by $146,181
We increased the B fund balance by $37,681

17. Deliverables The Town wide Highway Line ( DA)
We saved $28,119 and increased the fund balance $50,819
The Town outside the Village Highway Line (DB) we overspent by $32,902 but brought in more revenues so we only had a net loss of $14,000 .
The change in this budget had to do with the shifting of personnel after the retirement of our Building & Grounds Supervisor

18. 2012 Budget Summary Mandated additional expenses: $391,381
A fund Savings: $559,282
A fund increased revenues: $116,696
Increased A fund balance : $350,929
B fund savings: $146,181
B fund balance increased: $37,681
DA fund savings :$28,119
DA fund balance increased: $50,819
DB fund balance decreased : $14,000

19. Planned Expenditures 2013 Budget vs 2012 Budget
2012 Budget Budget Savings
A fund
$8,614, $7,891, $723,640
B Fund
$622, $463, $158,550
DA Fund
$381, $495, $113,974
DB Fund
$1,273, $1,474, $200,707

20. Planned 2012 vs 2013 Use of Fund Balance
Appropriated A fund $325,049 $204,803 B Fund $108,500 $37,500 DA Fund $ $22,700 $10,000 DB Fund $101,000 $50,000

21. 2012 vs 2013 Budget amount to be raised in taxes
Taxes raised Savings
A fund $6,870, $6,319, $550,882
B Fund $187, $10, $177,182
DA Fund $352, $480, $127,382
DB Fund $1,168, $1,314, $145,893
A Fund savings: + $423,500
B Fund savings: + $31,289

22. Summary of Savings 2012 & 2013 2012 A fund actual savings: +$ 587,401
2012 B fund actual savings: +$ 132,181
2012 A fund increased revenues: +$ 144,815
2012 B fund increased revenues: $ $56,552
2013 A fund Budget planned savings :$609,666
2013 B Fund Budget planned savings: $42,157