Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, & Lying Too in Monticello School DIstrict

by Sean Rieber

sean@rieberappraisal.com

A few weeks ago an article came out in the press referencing the NYS Comptroller’s Audit of Monticello Schools and the fact that they had a fund balance of $16.5 million when only 4% of their budget, or $3.3 million, was allowed by law.  

Several days later, in typical government fashion, the district administration released a statement essentially blaming prior administrations.  

What is extremely bothersome about this whole saga is the information I found after further research and the total downplaying and/or ignorance of it by sitting board members.  

When I questioned one long time board member about it the response was “I can safely say that our board first learned how much there was actually in the fund balance when the report came out.  We are not pleased with the information either.”  

A follow up remark to that was then “We rely on the people we pay to give us the information to make informed decisions.”  

I then spoke with another long time board member who indicated that he didn’t believe that the figures were that high and that the comptroller is a political animal (which is very true).  That board member went on to state that they now have a great superintendent and this will never happen again.  

Let’s hope that is true…but who is going to be held accountable for what went on?

Let’s correct the first board member’s comments first.  

After analyzing her two quotes I did some digging, namely filing a FOIL request for the last 3 years internal audits.  Those are the pesky little documents required by the State and performed annually at great cost to taxpayers.  They are also a perfect example of “information given to board members so that they can make informed decisions” and the auditors would be an example of people “they pay.”  Each and every board member receives a copy of the audit.  

June 30, 2012 Audit:  Page 38, NOTE 2 – STEWARDSHIP, COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY:

         The district’s unassigned fund balance in the General Fund is in excess of the amount permitted by law.  New York State Law limits the unassigned fund balance to 4% of the ensuing year’s budget.  As of June 30, 2012, the District’s General Fund unassigned fund balance is approximately 16% of the ensuring year’s budget.

June 30, 2013 Audit:  Page 39, NOTE 2 – STEWARDSHIP, COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

         Identical wording as above…..but….As of June 30, 2013 the District’s General Fund unassigned fund balance is approximately 18% of the ensuing year’s budget.

June 30, 2014 Audit:  Page 39, NOTE 2 – STEWARDSHIP, COMPLIANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

         Identical wording as above…but…As of June 30, 2014 the District’s General Fund unassigned fund balance is approximately 21% of the subsequent year’s adopted budget.

Are we seeing a pattern here folks?  

The board members have the information, the administration has the information….the question is ARE THEY BOTHERING TO READ IT??

Now…what are the consequences?  

Was the public misled?

I’d sure say so.

I then reviewed the budget presentations for this past year on the District’s website.  Strangely, not a single mention of the fund balance in the powerpoint.  I guess if I had $16 million that I didn’t want to tell anyone about I wouldn’t put it in there either.  Unfortunately for the administration though, that’s not their money.  That’s our money.

The worst part of it is the doom and gloom stories told to the public, apparently told to the board and the deceiving way in which budget votes happened.  

Take these excerpts from the May 12, 2013 Town of Forestburgh meeting in which a member of the administration (person still in the position, can’t blame the last guy) attended and gave the following remarks:

         “….reduction in staff of 38 persons.  All programs and athletics are intact…”

“We do have a healthy fund balance, but it will be reduced quickly and it is not just us, it is state wide.”

“We feel this is a fair budget, but if it is defeated at the polls, we will go to our contingent budget which is 2.06% no new equipment will be purchased and the community will be charged to use our fields and facilities.  We have no choice but to do that.  ALSO, WE WOULD HAVE TO DECREASE OUR WORKFORCE BY ANOTHER 1.2 MILLION DOLLARS.”

“With everything that the Governor has put on us, it is becoming more difficult to do a budget, this is a very fair budget – WE FEEL WITHIN FOUR YEARS OUR FUND BALANCE WILL BE DEPLETED.”

Meanwhile, per their own internal audit, the fund balance increased by another $3.4 million dollars since then.  

So, essentially, the administration was going around scaring the public into voting for a budget and never informing them of the fact that they had a fund balance of FOUR TIMES the amount allowed under the law and easily could have hired more teachers rather than threaten to lay them off.  

This isn't the only place they are irresponsibly hoarding money.

Per the NYS Comptroller audit the district has a worker’s compensation fund balance of three years of expenditures or $2.6 million and an unemployment insurance reserve of 7 years of expenditures or $1.1 million.  

We all believe in saving for a rainy day….but 3 years and 7 years worth of expenditures in the bank???  

Don’t let the district blame prior administrations.  

Many of the board members have been there for years.  The current superintendent was hired as a Deputy in July 2012 and the Deputy Superintendent for Business (formerly known as Business Manager) has been there since August 2011.  

There is no question that they inherited a pattern of abuse and a bloated fund balance….but what has been done since and why wasn’t the Board informed (if the Board member who said they had no idea was being truthful)?  Why wasn’t the public informed?  Did they stay quiet based on the orders of the prior Superintendent or on orders from the Board?  We as the taxpaying public are owed answers.

What about the teachers?  Downsizing has occurred and was clearly unnecessary.  Countless young teachers have had sleepless nights and knots in their stomachs wondering if the pink slip was coming.  Many parents still complain about the quality of the education.  There are or were overcrowding issues.  Our teachers are the lowest paid in the area and in the largest school district.  Their contract is coming up for negotiation.  Certainly the district can’t cry poverty in these contract talks.  All this is going on while there is a money hoard in the bank.

The end result is a person or people MUST be held accountable.  

The public was lied to, plain and simple.  

The taxpayers are owed a refund, the students are owed a better school system, and teachers are owed fair pay.  

And most importantly, the voters are owed explanations and/or resignations.  It is unfathomable how you can have an extremely expensive audit handed to you each and every year but not even bother to read it.  

A suggestion to the present administration.  Tell the truth.  

If a 4% fund balance is an antiquated law and not reflective of the current state of economics in education then simply say so.  Put the fund balance out to the public and publicly state that you don’t think 4% is enough and you are going to hold back 8% regardless of the state law.  Any reasonable member of the taxpaying public will respect that, including myself.  

But we can all agree that 21% is outrageous and borderline criminal.  

Finally, a question to the Board….if you were not getting accurate information from the people that you pay, what have you done about it?  

Millions were bilked from the taxpayers….simply saying “now, now…don’t do that again” isn’t good enough.  

Simply put…he who is complacent is complicit.  

A New Beginning in the Catskills: No More Bungalows

By Steven Kurlander

steven@stevenkurlander.com

The Town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County recently put forth a number of changes to its zoning laws that would essentially limit the building of new bungalows.

The purpose of the new changes is simple.

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20141010/NEWS/141019947/101008/NEWSLETTER100

“It is the intent of the Town of Fallsburg to not promote the expansion of bungalow colonies”

The idea behind the changes is to make new residential construction more permanent in nature, safer and more aesthetically pleasant.

The true reality is that if the changes are implemented, say goodbye to bungalows as a cheap housing alternative for summer residents and say hello to the end of questionable density seasonal housing both in Fallsburg and Sullivan County as a whole.

And that’s a very good start in rebuilding the economy of Sullivan County and the Catskills by enhancing the housing stock in the area and improving the real estate values too.

The eastern half of Sullivan County comprised of the major towns should start placing more emphasis not only on building single family homes on adequately sized lots, but to begin to repair the crumbling, overtaxed full year round housing stock in our villages and towns that already exists.

The concept of bungalow living in the Catskills has its genesis in the seasonal tourist mentality that dominated a recreational 20th century economy.  They were built solely around servicing the masses escaping the heat of NYC during the summer season.

Bungalow living was one step more than camping out, allowing families to live in crowded colonies in structures that provided basic protection against the summer elements, period. Densely built, these colonies allowed the maximum amount of people to enjoy the Catskill summers, crowding our roads and supporting our main streets.

Now 70-100 year later, that model does not work anymore.  Drive down the hamlet of Woodbourne’s main street to view the stark 21st century reality of that seasonal bungalow mentality: A decrepit looking business district that once serviced local residents and tourists alike remains empty of year round stores, a basic ghost town 10 months a year.  

Sullivan County should instead capture a new exodus from the NYC metropolitan area not driven by hot weather, but by exorbitant rents in places like Williamsburg and Crown Heights, to attract new middle class families with good, affordable year round housing to move here year round to live, to open stores, and to commute to NYC instead of just visiting for the summer.

Second homes should be year round, where the owners can come up for the weekend not only in July, but in January.  That model is building in hamlets like Narrowsburg and Roscoe.  It needs to be jumpstarted in Woodridge and Swan Lake too.

At a recent hearing over this new Fallsburg law, a number of local contractors and Orthodox real estate developers with projects in Fallsburg argued that if the new law is implemented, they will be put out of business.  They argued that stricter density laws would forbid them from continuing to build new summer residences that would continue this way of life for another 100 years.

In terms of safety, the subsequent “massive” fire in a Sackett Lake Bungalow colony that quickly incinerated numerous bungalows was a wake up call to why this law is a very good idea, solely from a safety point of view.

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2014/October/07/CampShira_fire-07Oct14.htm

When it comes to rebuilding Sullivan County, with or without casinos, the vocal opposition to this new law that was reported in area news publication is cynical and misstated at best.

http://www.scdemocratonline.com/webpages/newsdetail.aspx?id=dd4c7b59-0fbf-4b94-8af9-8492ec5b66c8

There are enough bungalows in the Catskills as it is. Enough is enough. New seasonal bungalows have no place in the future rebuilding of the Sullivan County economy.

###

Forestburgh Supervisor Sipos makes proposal for consolidation of two town highway departments

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs191/1107378559031/archive/1114526725132.html

writersworkshopofsullivancounty.blogspot.com "Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"    Traveling along Sullivan County's Broken Highway System Forestburgh Supervisor Sipos makes proposal for consolidation of two town highway departments by Steven Kurlander steven@stevenkurlander.com Sipos' consolidation initiative can also spur further cooperation agreements between various local villages and towns.. There's an interesting item on the Town of Thompson Board agenda on Thursday that all Sullivan County elected officials should be examining closely. For the first time in years, there's talk about consolidating municipal services in Sullivan County - in this case, between two town highway departments. Forestburgh Supervisor William Sipos recently sent a letter to the Thompson Town Boardrequesting that the two towns consider combining their highway departments, stating in part: "By joining forces, the Highway Department of the Town of Forestburgh and Thompson could save the taxpayers money by offsetting some of the cost which is now incorporated in our budgets." Whether the Town of Thompson Board and the two Highway Superintendents agree remains to be seen Judging the population of Forestburgh and the amount of town highway it has, consolidation is a good idea to explore.   And it should be the start of serious discussions involving the cash strapped villages and towns throughout Sullivan County and the county and state too that face increasing costs for highway department budgets. The Town of Forestburgh has a population of under 1000 residents and approximately 35 miles of town road to maintain and plow.  It has a Highway Department of 7 employees and its budget is between $1.1 million and $1.2 million.  That's 80% of Forestburgh's budget. Further, the Mid Hudson News reported that there is in fact defacto sharing of manpower, equipment, materials, and highway services already taking place between the Town of Thompson and the Town of Forestburgh. Throughout Sullivan County, there are village, town, county, and state roads, all intersecting with one another.  And the servicing of such a myriad of roads under such an individualized system has gotten expensive (and results in duplicate waste) over time for taxpayers not only in Sullivan County, but statewide.  And it gets silly and wasteful at times. During a snowstorm, four plows, State, County, Town, and Village, will drive down Broadway in Monticello, but only one will have its plow down. Take neighboring Ulster County. In July, 2010, the Pattern For Progress Think Tank published a study by Michael Hattery of Binghamton University entitledIndentifying Opportunities for Highway Service Cooperation which studied how the various municipal highway departments could achieve service sharing, service consolidation, and cost savings for Ulster County highway services.  It's an enlightening document to read. After providing an overview of the highway services and capacity, it discussed a number of policy options being utilized in Monroe, Jefferson, and Chemung Counties that all have some sort of shared costs, maintenance responsibilities, and labor pooling. The study identified a range of options for the various highway departments in Ulster County to achieve efficiencies and savings by consolidating and working together highway maintenance and services. It's time for a similar study of Sullivan County highways. The first County Legislature was elected in part on the premise of exploring the consolidation of services in various areas, and in fact, some movement was made in terms of a county-wide police force and the creation of a District Court to alleviate the towns and villages of the high costs of their criminal justice systems.  That was back in the late 1990s, and the initial efforts failed in the face of opposition from local justices not willing to give up their expensive courts.  Since then, there's been no true movement on the county level to continue exploring any other major consolidation of services with the towns and villages. The move for examining consolidation by Sipos on the town level may work better in 2013.  It's a smaller proposal in range and cost and truly makes sense. And if the Town of Thompson Board agrees, such shared services between Town of Thompson and the Town of Forestburgh may be the start of cost savings and the elimination of wasteful spending county-wide for taxpayers.  It would certainly save Forestburgh and Thompson taxpayers some money. Sipos' consolidation initiative can also spur further cooperation agreements between various local villages and towns, or at least a Pattern for Progress type study of the idea at a time when both taxpayers and municipal governments have little money to spare.                                                                         ##

Join Our Mailing List!

It's the Locals in Sullivan County that really have poor driving habits

writersworkshopofsullivancounty.blogspot.com "Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"    It's the Locals in Sullivan County that really have poor driving habits Stay Off the Roads in Sullivan County-If You Want To Live! Part II by Ruby Pixman One of the worst of these potential deathtraps is on Route 52 along the eastern approach to Jeffersonville In my previous column I questioned the safety of the pair of newly-installed traffic circles in Liberty.  I argued how the flawed design of these circles, not bad driving, invites traffic accidents. However, throughout the rest of Sullivan County, actual and potential accidents are clearly the result of poor driving habits.  One of my major peeves involves just plain laziness on behalf of drivers! The county, being both hilly and rural, has many two-lane roads that twist and turn, often providing treacherous sharp curves for motorists to traverse with their cars.  Its common practice here that as drivers approach such a bend, instead of cautiously hugging the outer rim of the road, they often veer toward the center, and sometimes cross over the solid dividing line and into the left lane-a danger to oncoming traffic.  Such drivers are just too lazy to stay on their side of the road.   Since this practice occurs year-round and not just during tourist season, I can only assume that these dangerous actions are largely performed by locals.  Since police can't be present at every dangerous curve, the best solution is the installation of traffic cones or other devices that prevent cars from entering into unwarranted territory. One of the worst of these potential deathtraps is on Route 52 along the eastern approach to Jeffersonville.  The road turns sharply to the right and blocks any view of oncoming traffic.  Along the right side of the road is a trench.  If a driver encounters another care in the wrong lane, he or she is forced to collide with the on-comer or sharply turn to his right.  That insures that he or she will end up in the trench, possibly with deadly consequences.  This blind curve is a perfect spot for installing traffic cones or even more permanent devices. Another major problem is the outright defiance of the laws banning drivers' cell phone usage.  One remedy is for the county to earn a reputation as a place where police frequently enforce the law.  The best place to catch such would-be felons is along Route 17, a wide road where it would be safe and easy for police vehicles to be parked for the purpose of surveillance.  I'm not a big fan of constant police presence, but once a few arrests are made and word gets out, the deadly practice of cell phone conversations will greatly decrease.  And speaking of Route 17, this is a situation that constantly baffles me.  There are signs posted along the roadway indicating that 55 mph is the state speed limit, which presumably means that driving above that limit is illegal in the entire state.  Yet within short distances of such signs are other postings that indicate the speed limit to be 65 mph!  Which one of the two contradictory posted limits is the actual number?  It seems to me that if someone is stopped for going above 55, he has a good court defense, since the 65mph limit is simultaneously posted on the same road! Sadly, this county has a long history of doing the best it can for getting nothing of a constructive nature accomplished. Probably none of these traffic situations I've pointed out will ever be addressed, unless possibly someone is seriously hurt or killed.  I'm still hopeful, however, that traffic safety will take precedence over costs and that solutions will be provided.  Such precautions can save many lives here in Sullivan County!                                                                          ##

Join Our Mailing List!

Feedback? Click Here  This Writer's Forum was created to be a forum of free discussion of events and politics in Sullivan County. If you are interested writing in this forum, contact us at sullivancountywritersworkshop@gmail.com.   All identities of authorship will be kept confidential. Click To Sign Up for Sullivan County eNews Roundup

Do Traffic Circles in Sullivan County Make Driving More, Not Less Dangerous?

writersworkshopofsullivancounty.blogspot.com

"Stimulating meaningful thought & debate in Sullivan County without retribution"

  

Do Traffic Circles in Sullivan County Make Driving More, Not Less Dangerous?

Stay Off the Roads in Sullivan County-If You Want To Live!

by Ruby Pixman

In other crowded areas of the nation, like New Jersey for instance, outdated circles have either been replaced with traffic lights and overpasses, or have undergone safety design improvements.

There was recently an article posted on hudsonvalley.ynn.com concerning a local dangerous intersection and its deadly consequences.  I was beat to the punch, for I was prepared to post a column dealing with similar driver-related problems in Sullivan County. 

The roads in Sullivan County can be very dangerous, particularly in the summer months.

A few years ago, two traffic circles were erected in Liberty, each separated by less than one mile. They were constructed in response to observations that many drivers were speeding dangerously through the town's main thoroughfare, State Route 52.

As reported in the local news, these circles were designed to slow down traffic by forcing drivers to be more cautious as they enter the circles. 

However, traffic circle intersections cause much confusion, mainly because drivers don't know who is supposed to yield to whom as the various spurs are encountered.  So, to avoid possible accidents, slowing down is a necessity. 

In other words, highly-dangerous traffic circles as envisioned by some town officials SHOULD be more dangerous to achieve the goal of getting drivers to slow down!  Never mind that there are alternate ways to achieve the same safety goal WITHOUT making the roads more dangerous.

One such tried and proven method is through the installation of traffic lights.  Being automatic and passive in nature they safely regulate traffic, almost entirely eliminating faulty decision-making by drivers, greatly reducing the probability of collisions.

Another proven method is to use police force to regulate traffic and issue citations when warranted.  When word of that approach becomes well-known drivers tend to slow down.

I suspect that neither of these sensible approaches were adopted because it costs money to install and maintain traffic lights and police patrols have to be paid. 

Traffic circles, by comparison, once installed may bear little in maintenance costs. It therefore seems evident that saving money, rather than lives was the main reason for installing those monstrosities!

In other crowded areas of the nation, like New Jersey for instance, outdated circles have either been replaced with traffic lights and overpasses, or have undergone safety design improvements.

Yet, in Liberty, the national trend toward eliminating circles was ignored, leaving drivers with new versions of traffic circle deathtraps. 

Sure, one of the circles, the nearest to the Route 17 intersections looks pretty with its enclosed lawn and colorful flags, but that's no consolation for drivers who are involved in serious accidents due to traffic circles' built-in confusion factor.

The other Liberty circle, closer to the downtown area forces the approaching driver to stop before entering, then look left for oncoming traffic, and then look right for cars entering at the next intersection. 

Need to traverse 180 degrees to the opposite side of the circle?  

Watch out because just before you get there, a sidewalk juts out into the road, forcing you to veer sharply to the left to avoid driving up and onto the pedestrian walkway. Instantly watch out for oncoming traffic approaching you from the left lane, appearing as though you're about to be hit you head-on! 

It was a stupid decision to save money by installing the Liberty traffic circles and they should be removed before someone gets killed!

                                                                        ##