County Demands Department Budget Reports

By Joshua Walther

SCHOHARIE - At the latest County Board of Supervisors meeting on Friday, Supervisor Alicia Terry of Gilboa wanted a better glimpse into spending on the department level.

During the finance committee’s report by Supervisor Alex Luniewski of Wright, Supervisor Terry asked that the committee and the treasury office work together to form simplified budget vs. actuals on a monthly basis for the Board’s consideration.

She noted that if the Board had access to a budget book that wasn’t over one hundred pages long, they could better point out discrepancies if and when they arise.

Supervisor Earl VanWormer III of Esperance agreed with her assessment, but he explained that “County finances are more complex than a town,” and said it would be more work than just gathering numbers.

Supervisor Jeffrey Haslun of Richmondville followed up on that sentiment, personally vouching that he had seen the “hard work” that goes on in the treasury office.

But Supervisor Terry’s request did not go unsupported, as both Supervisors Harold Vroman of Summit and Ben Oevering of Schoharie agreed as well, believing that the regular hundred page report is just too long for some of the members.

Supervisor Luniewski explained that any of the Board members could be signed up for access to their new cloud-based system from Tyler Technologies, but he warned that it takes time to click through every digital line item and see where it leads.

“It isn’t just a five-minute read,” he said. “It takes hours.”

In response, Supervisor Terry again circled around to the point of easy and accessible information that’s readily presented to the Board.

With the position made, the representative from the treasury office asked for more time than just next month to figure out how to format the new report within the Tyler system, to which the rest of the Board agreed.