Town of Peru

The Town of Peru has provided some interesting articles of late, and one appeared again yesterday, centering as usual around Supervisor Donald Covel:

BILL PAYMENTS CHANGES SOUGHT:

Peru's town supervisor is looking for changes in how the town pays bills, to correct a problem that arose recently when a loan payment was not paid on time.

Donald Covel, who is serving his first term as supervisor following a 30-year stint as a Town Council member, recently came under fire for missing a bond payment due at the beginning of March.

Covel has said that he knew nothing about the bill until receiving notice that the town was in jeopardy of defaulting, even though the supervisor's office has been responsible for such bills for at least several years.
...
Attending a recent government conference on budgeting and accounting affairs for municipalities, Covel asked municipal-law experts about the situation.

"I was advised that several current practices of the town do not meet the requirements in Town Law statutes," Covel said during a recent Town Council meeting as he read from a memo he had written to Town Clerk Kathleen Flynn.

"According to Section 119 of Town Law, it is the town clerk's responsibility to organize all claims for payment, consecutive number them and present them for audit to the town board. This is not being done."

Covel continued reading the five-paragraph memo he said he composed over the weekend, which described what he learned about payment responsibilities, including the requirement that all long-term debts should be presented by the town clerk to the Supervisor's Office for payment.
...
Flynn, who was in attendance and recording the minutes, said she had been under the impression that the supervisor's secretary was responsible for such bills.

Covel said he believed the supervisor's secretary began taking care of bills a few years ago when then-Town Clerk Joanne Stafford became ill and the town looked for ways to lessen her responsibilities for a period of time.

Town Council member Peter Gluskho said the town needed to research the issue to see if a law had been passed to allow the supervisor's secretary to handle the bills, noting that he didn't mind moving the duty back to the town clerk but that legal steps should be followed.

"We've discovered a law and need to move on and address the situation," Covel said. "If that means helping Kathy in the transition, then we are here for that support."

Covel asked Town Attorney Dennis Curtin to review Section 119 of Town Law to make sure his information was accurate.

I suspect Attorney Curtin will find that the Supervisor, not the Town Clerk, bears ultimate responsibility for seeing that bond payments are made timely. Yes, the Town Clerk must prepare a list of the claims to be paid, but she has no duty to see that upcoming expenses are monitored and payments eventually are made: she merely compiles the claims that have been submitted. A bill for a bond payment likely comes in the form of a statement from the bank not as a claim i.e. with a voucher, etc. The duty to actually plan for and make the payment lies with the Supervisor, or, practically speaking, his bookeeper or confidential secretary if one has been appointed. Section 29 of the Town Law sets out the responsibilties of the Supervisor, and provides in part:

Except where powers or duties specified herein are devolved upon the town comptroller pursuant to section thirty-four of this chapter, the supervisor of each town.

1. Shall act as treasurer thereof and shall demand, collect, receive and have the care and custody of moneys belonging to or due the town from every source, except as otherwise provided by law. Except as otherwise provided in articles eleven and thirteen, he shall also act as treasurer and disbursing officer for every special district therein.

2. Within ten days after their receipt, shall deposit and secure in his name as supervisor, all such moneys in the manner provided by section ten of the general municipal law.

3. Shall disburse such moneys only by checks payable to the person or persons entitled thereto, which checks shall, if the town board requires such countersignature, be countersigned by the town clerk, or by the comptroller in towns where the office of town comptroller has been established. When authorized by resolution of the town board, such checks may be signed with the facsimile signature of the supervisor or other town officer whose signature is required, as reproduced by a machine or device commonly known as a checksigner. By resolution duly adopted, the town board may determine to enter into a contract to provide for the deposit of the periodic payroll of the town in a bank or trust company for disbursal by it in accordance with provisions of section ninety-six-b of the banking law.

4. Shall keep an accurate and complete account of the receipt and disbursement of all moneys which shall come into his hands by virtue of his office, in books of account in the form prescribed by the state department of audit and control for all expenditures under the highway law and in books of account provided by the town for all other expenditures. Such books of account shall be public records, open and available for inspection at all reasonable hours of the day, and, upon the expiration of his term, shall be filed in the office of the town clerk.

It is quite clear that Mr. Covel is at fault here, not the Town Clerk. The rest of the article bears reading as it is full of peculiarities. It appears, for example, that the Town Clerk wants to treat a request by the Town's Budget Officer for photocopies of meeting minutes as a FOIL application and charge him for the copies. Do you think there might be some tension in the air at town hall?