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RFH 2010, Cover Stories, To the Editor

Letter: Handling of Finances Questioned

Wed, Nov 02, 2011

If you pay taxes in Hamilton and care about what happens to your tax dollars you should read this report. You really only need to read the first few paragraphs to get the picture. It is deeply disturbing. I do not understand why it has not been more widely publicized and discussed.

The State Comptroller's office audited the Town of Hamilton's finances for the period January 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009 (the report is at http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/towns/2010/hamilton.pdf). They found

- records missing

- no mandatory financial reports filed since 2003

- bank accounts unreconciled since 2005

- we may have been inadvertently overtaxed

As a result, the report says, "it is impossible for the Board or public to oversee the Town's finances." We cannot tell how tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars were spent. Two current candidates for town office, Scott Mills (for Supervisor), and David Holcomb (for Council) sat on the all-Republican Council during this period. Mr. Mills was deputy supervisor.

Mr. Mills says that when he left office, the budget was balanced and every dollar spent wisely. How can he say that when "it is impossible" to know? Mr. Holcomb says a Councilor's job is deciding on what is put in front of him. He blames the former Supervisor and former bookkeeper for not providing them with financial reports.

Did they really sit, year after year, never asking for financial data, then blame others for what happened on their watch? Imagine the captain of the Titanic excusing himself because no one told him he was going to hit an iceberg!

No one suggests either gentleman acted corruptly. But they failed badly at financial stewardship, and neither shows any insight into his own responsibility. We cannot afford to return them to office.

Owen Tallman, Hamilton

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Comments(1):

  1. The failure of Town Government when Mills was Deputy Superintendent

    Thursday, November 03, 2011 Wanda Warren

    Tallman's letter reminds the Town of Hamilton of how crucially important it is to pay attention to the Comptroller's Report on the audit done of period during which candidate Mills was Deputy Supervisor and candidate Holcomb was a councilman. The link is in Tallman's letter, but the comptroller's report also is at www.hamiltondemocrats.org. The audit was occasioned by the fact that the required annual financial reports from the Supervisor had not been filed for at least five years. Then the audit found MANY problems with the financial records,some of which could not be reconstructed even after the current Council paid for extra expert bookkeeping help. I was not at every Council meeting during 2008-2011, but Dave Holcomb has publicly acknowledged that I was at many. [Indeed, there were periods when I felt I attended more of the council meetings than did he, since his attendance was far from regular for much of his last two terms-- I know he is a busy man, but...] Scott Mills did regularly attend meetings during his last term-- but he like the rest of the board, made no effort to inform the public of the missing financial records, of problems with the bookkeeper, and of the on-going audit. The Town Law Manual makes it clear that Annual Financial Reports are supposed to be communicated to the Town Council as well as, through the Town Clerk, to the public. Surely the Deputy Supervisor and the Town Clerk knew that year after year the Comptroller's Office wrote letters about the missing Reports. Missing reports and records characterized the years when candidates Mills and Holcomb were on the Council. It will not do to blame all of this on the bookkeeper, who, after all, was re-appointed year after year by the Republican Supervisor and Council. It is the job of the Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor to SUPERVISE such personnel. Adding to the very difficult situation that the new majority of the Board faced when taking office in 2010 was the fact that the members of the previous Council made no effort to communicate to the new members the past history of certain matters, e.g., of revaluations. Contrast that with the extensive time invested by the current budget officer, Peter Darby, in bringing all candidates to budget workshops so that they are more ready to understand the budget that they will inherit if elected. The audit published in 2010 was widely reported in the media. How embarrassing it will be if we return to office those who failed to adequately oversee Town finances in the past, especially when the alternative candidates are so well-qualified! Wanda Warren Berry