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PRELIMINARY BUDGET - GENERAL & HIGHWAY FUND (continued)
Deputy Comptroller Chuck Malinowski advised that 50 percent of the Unallocated Insurance line item was for insurance premiums. The town had an insurance policy for various things and the annual premium was well over $350,000. The unallocated insurance was liability insurance in case the town was sued for something.
Supervisor Clark advised that $5000 for Other Expense, Strategic Plan was the town’s portion of the Master Plan expense. Examples of contingent expenses would be replacement of the police dog when the current dog died or payment for salt for the roads if they ran short.
Mrs. Minklei questioned what BAN’s were on Page 16, under the transfer to Debt Service Fund.
Mr. Malinowski responded that BAN’s were bond anticipation notes, temporary borrowings that occurred when a bond resolution was adopted but the bond was not yet issued. It allowed the town to receive the money to do the project quicker.
Mr. Greenan advised that in many instances after the town passed a bond resolution to borrow a certain amount of money, they would first do a BAN that would borrow the money immediately, sometimes even at a lower rate of interest, until they got together enough bonds to put together an offering of some bigger expense for long term debt. Borrowing the money short term was often less expensive and at a lower interest rate, and depending upon the rates and the projects the town might consult with the outside accounting firm and decide to put all the BAN’s together and sell them on the market as a bond.
Mrs. Minklei questioned the bond resolutions for various equipment, vehicles, and projects that were recently adopted by the Town Board.
Supervisor Clark responded that the borrowing was authorized in the bond resolution, and they would then take their choice based on market rates and where the interest rates were as to whether or not they got BAN’s. This gave the town flexibility on financing.
Councilman Graber stated that when the Town Board adopted the bond resolutions they were very specific as to what the money was being spent on. All the vehicles and equipment to be purchased were delineated on paper. New York State required this and they could not divert the money and spend it elsewhere.
Mrs. Minklei referred to Page 16, Employee Benefits and questioned the Health & Welfare Insurance amount of $180,000 and whether there was any way of breaking down the dollar amount per person for Hospital and Medical Insurance.
Supervisor Clark responded that the amount for Hospital and Medical Insurance included all full-time employees and retirees. He would be able to furnish Mrs. Minklei with the rates of insurance for the various policies the town was required to carry under contract. The Health & Welfare Insurance was for health and welfare payments to the police, plus dental and vision insurance.
Mrs. Minklei requested a breakdown of the $2,580,000 allocated for Hospital & Medical Insurance.
David Monolopolus, 97 Lexington Green, referred to Page five, Special Items, and questioned what professional services cost the town $10,000 per year. He further referred to the Pool Cars – Gas & Maintenance line item and questioned how many pool cars the town owned and who used them. Mr. Monolopolus also questioned the line item for Municipal Association Dues in the amount of $4000 and questioned what association the town belonged to.
Supervisor Clark responded that the allocation for professional services was for grant writing expenses. Pool cars were available for employees in the Building & Plumbing Department, Assessor’s Office, Engineering Department, and Youth Bureau. The vehicles were maintained and parked on town property and were not driven home by the employees. Supervisor Clark advised that along with some minor associations, the town belonged to the Association of Towns, the lobby group that represented the town in state matters. Dues to the Association of Towns was based on population and amounted to over $2000.
Evelyn Hicks, 276 Seneca Creek Road, questioned if an outside consultant was hired for grant writing and if the $10,000 allocation would cover the grants that were referred to in the proposed Master Plan.
Supervisor Clark responded that the town used to hire an outside consultant for grant writing, but they now had a cost sharing arrangement with the Youth Bureau and an in-house employee that was assigned to AmeriCorps that did the grant writing. He noted that the $10,000 allocation was only the town’s General Fund portion of the overall team cost of running an in-house grant department. The AmeriCorps employee’s salary was partially funded by federal dollars.
Councilman Graber noted that the allocation for this line item was decreased from $20,000 to $10,000.
Mrs. Hicks referred to the Peer Counseling line item on Page 12 and questioned what this job entailed and if the two Peer Counselors were professionals.
Supervisor Clark advised that the town had an arrangement for cost sharing with the school district, and they were reimbursed by the school district for much of the wages of the two Peer Counselors employed by the town. The Peer Counseling program was a drug awareness program that was very successful in the schools.
Councilman Osmanski added that the two Peer Counselors had college degrees and were professionals. There was one Peer Counselor stationed at East Senior High School and one at West Senior High School. They recruited individuals and had 40 to 60 kids in their programs.
Mrs. Hicks questioned if there were any line items on the budget that referred to AmeriCorps.
Supervisor Clark responded that the AmeriCorps was really not a part of the budget, but some of the expenses of regular operation (ie. Youth Director’s salary) was part of the town’s contribution that was utilized to obtain the $2 million to $2.4 million annual AmeriCorps allotment that the town received for running the program.
Jane Kester, 60 East & West Road, referred to the allocation for pool cars and questioned if one of the vehicles was designated for Supervisor Clark and Youth Director Mark Lazzara. She further questioned Mr. Lazzara’s annual salary of $73,207 and questioned if that amount was entirely paid by the Town of West Seneca.
Supervisor Clark responded that he and Mr. Lazzara were each assigned a town vehicle. The town paid Mr. Lazzara’s salary, but he brought in approximately $2.6 million in grant funding annually, including the very successful AmeriCorps program.
Councilman Graber commented that Mr. Lazzara had to go after the grant money on an annual basis and it was very competitive. Many people from the state and federal government that were involved with the grant funds would come to see the program, and Mr. Lazzara needed a vehicle to drive them around Western New York and show them where the grant money was being utilized.
Mrs. Kester questioned if there were ever any reports on the AmeriCorps and their funding.
Supervisor Clark responded that the AmeriCorps grants were at the Youth Bureau, and Mrs. Kester could contact Mrs. Stefanacci to review them.
Mrs. Kester referred to Page 6, Police Personal Services, and the amount of $5,105,662. She questioned the number of employees in each job title and suggested that this information be listed on the budget in the future.
Supervisor Clark responded that the budget was a financial document that simply had the dollars per line item. He offered to supply Mrs. Kester with the information she requested.
Mrs. Kester referred to Page 17 and the decline in soccer fees from $75,000 in 2003 to $50,000 in 2004 and 2005. She further questioned if any soccer payments had been made to the town on the lease.
Supervisor Clark responded that the projected revenue and financial performance of the soccer facility was not as predicted, so they had to more appropriately reflect the anticipated fees to the town. By partnering with a management company, they hoped that the $50,000 was a conservative estimate for 2005. Supervisor Clark advised that there were payments on the lease and that was what the $50,000 represented.
Mrs. Kester questioned the salaries of the Dog Control Officer and Asst. Dog Control Officer and why they were so high.
Supervisor Clark responded that the salaries were contractual and were negotiated as part of the Blue Collar Contract. Both individuals were well trained and certified NYS Peace Officers.
Councilman Graber responded that the Dog Control Officers did not just handle dogs and they were on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. The town averaged about 150 deer killed on the road each year and the Dog Control Officers also handled these instances.
Councilman Osmanski stated that there was a lot of overtime involved because they were on call nights and weekends. The budgeted amount included estimated overtime based on past years.
Supervisor Clark noted that when the Police Department received calls at night or on weekends, the Dog Control Officers were only called out for critical issues as determined by the officer or dispatcher receiving the call.
Virginia Grandoni, 870 Orchard Park Road, commented on three bad experiences she had with the Dog Control Officer. Mrs. Grandoni lost her dog on a weekend and it took the Dog Control Officer four days to call her back. A police officer shot a deer on a Friday night and it lay dead in her front lawn until Wednesday. Also, when Mrs. Grandoni had a bat in her house last summer and trapped it between a window and screen, she called the Dog Control Officer because Erie County wanted the bat to check it for rabies. The Dog Control Officer came to her house, took the screen out, and let the bat go free. As a result, Mrs. Grandoni and her husband had to go through six weeks of rabies shots. Mrs. Grandoni did not believe the Dog Control Officer was worth the salary he was paid.
Karen Lucachick, 61 Greenmeadow Drive, questioned how many vehicles the town owned, excluding the Police Department, and who used the vehicles. She further questioned if any of the vehicles were driven home each night by the employees.
Supervisor Clark responded that he would have the Comptroller’s Office furnish Mrs. Lucachick with that information.
Mr. Malinowski stated that he had a schedule showing which department heads had vehicles assigned to them on a 24-hour basis, but he did not know how many pool cars the town owned. Supervisor Clark and Youth Director Mark Lazzara were two of the employees who drove town vehicles home each day.
Mrs. Lucachick questioned why Mr. Lazzara would need to take a vehicle home.
Supervisor Clark responded that Mr. Lazzara was on call for the AmeriCorps, which had over 200 employees at different service locations at all hours of the day and night. Mr. Lazzara was sometimes called out for field inspections, complaints, problems, accidents, etc.
Mrs. Lucachick questioned if Mr. Lazzara received a salary from the AmeriCorps and as Youth Director.
Supervisor Clark responded that Mr. Lazzara did not receive a salary from the AmeriCorps. He ran the AmeriCorps program as part of his job as Executive Director of the Youth Bureau.
Councilman Graber commented that Mr. Lazzara was bringing in $3 million. All the money was being diverted into the hands of a number of West Seneca residents, and the AmeriCorps was doing a lot of positive things for Western New York. He suggested that Mrs. Lucachick visit the Youth Bureau and ask to see all the things that the AmeriCorps was involved in.
Councilman Osmanski stated that the AmeriCorps did a number of things on weekends and Mr. Lazzara had to go to wherever they were and coordinate their activity.
Mrs. Lucachick suggested that Supervisor Clark draft an explanation of how the town was picking up the expense for employee pensions and include the state legislators’ addresses for citizens to write to them.
Paula Minklei, 896 Orchard Park Road, questioned landfill disposal costs of $430,000 under the recycling line item and recycling income of only $15,000.
Mr. Malinowski responded that the $430,000 was what the town paid the company to pick up recyclables.
Supervisor Clark stated that they thought they would get more revenue from recyling, but the recycling after markets went up and down like the stock market and they did not want to over estimate revenues. They were not certain what to expect.
Councilman Osmanski noted that when they originally started the recycling program the town received a lot of money for recyclables, but the bottom fell out when more and more municipalities got involved. As they found new ways to utilize recyclable materials, they would once again be in demand.
Councilman Graber stated that the town was at the end of their recycling contract and they would be taking all this into account when they negotiated the new contract.
Councilman Osmanski further noted that there usually was some adjustment in the contract for a change in market value.
Mrs. Minklei questioned $12,000 in income for van receipts, $140,000 in income for Sale of Assets & Minor Sales, and Unclassified Revenues of $123,000.
