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| 7/5/2009 | Email this article • Print this article | Hiring a consultant makes no sense
Recorder News Staff
It appears Amsterdam's answer to addressing a possible $860,000 deficit in the city's budget is to throw more money at the problem.
On Tuesday, the Common Council will be asked to hire a consultant to work with Montgomery County to implement a computer program that supposedly will better track and analyze financial matters. The consultant, a temporary hire, would be paid $2,500 a month, or $30,000 a year.
The thing is, Amsterdam already has a person in place who should be doing this - city Controller Heather Reynicke.
Last week, the state comptroller's office released a scathing review of the city's 2009-10. Its findings included:
• Because the Budget Review Board failed to adopt a tentative budget by May 1, contrary to the provisions of the City Charter, auditors said it impeded officials' ability to properly review the spending plan.
• Significant sales tax revenue and expenditure estimates in the upcoming budget year may not be achievable.
• The city's current-year deficit could approach $860,000, nearly seven times higher than the city's estimated $128,000, which will reduce spending reserves.
• The city's contingency account may not be adequate to fill the gap if sales tax revenues do not meet expectations.
State auditors also made some recommendations to fix the problem, such as putting a long-range financial plan in place and continuing to monitor the city's finances, and having monthly budget comparison reports prepared so officials can review them to make sure there's enough money available to keep the city running.
Those are good suggestions, but we have to wonder why this wasn't already being done. After all, isn't this what the controller is elected to do?
The answer isn't to hire someone to do this; the answer is for Reynicke to start doing this. Reynicke was elected to be the caretaker of the city's finances, and if the controller isn't up to the task, then she should consider stepping aside.
We agree with the state when it says the Common Council is ultimately responsible for correcting the problem. After all, it is the council that adopts the city budget on an annual basis, and it's the council that votes on adjustments to the budget throughout the fiscal year.
It's hard for the legislative body, however, to make informed budget decisions if they don't have all the information needed to make them.
Several aldermen have faulted Reynicke for not providing them with monthly financial statements and cash flow reports, something practiced by past controllers. Those reports were provided with the same financial tracking system currently in place.
If the city has been able to function in the past without the new computer program being proposed, it seems to us that it's not the system that needs fixing.
Amsterdam is in no position to hire yet another person to cover for people already hired, or elected, to do the job themselves.
We urge the Common Council to reject the idea of hiring a consultant. Instead, the controller should get on the ball and be the caretaker of Amsterdam's finances the people elected her to be.
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