St. Albans needs better record keeping, says selectman working on 2006 budget

ST. ALBANS – As the town’s two-man board of selectmen worked its way through the 2006 proposed budget on Wednesday, it was clear it was not going to be an easy process.

Selectman Dan Hanson repeatedly pushed for a more accountable form of record keeping that would provide selectmen with a daily balance in every account. Waving a paper, Hanson said several times that if the accounting were more accountable, “things like this wouldn’t happen.”

Hanson’s paper outlined a donation request to Senior Spectrum in 2005 for $500 that was paid even though the town had not appropriated any funds for that service.

Hanson said that in 2005 the selectmen were not notified when an account was close to being overdrawn. “We should have known about it,” he said.

Hanson also questioned all charitable donations. “A group of 100 people should not decide how my money is spent,” he said. He backed eliminating support in 2006 for Red Cross, Senior Citizens, Family Violence Project, and KVCAP – all approved at town meeting last year – but agreed with a resident that the local food bank should continue to receive funds.

“The town shouldn’t be doing this,” Hanson said. “It should be up to the individual.”

Hanson also said an investigation was under way regarding the Bigelow Trust Fund, which for the past several years has been providing scholarships to Nokomis Regional High School students. In 2005, despite having a negative balance, a scholarship was paid, depleting the trust.

Hanson said the will that directs the Bigelow trust requires the funds to be spent on painting and repairs for the St. Albans school only, not for scholarships.

Hanson also revised a figure that recently dismissed Town Manager Larry Post put in the budget under “town manager removal.” Post put in $70,000, but Hanson said that included his potential legal fees. After 27 years as town manager, Post was not rehired last year and is taking legal action against the town.

“His contract said that if not rehired, he was due 52 weeks salary without benefits,” which is $45,071, Hanson said.

Interim Town Manager Horace “Bert” Taylor cautioned the board that they should consider what their legal costs will be in 2006. “If Larry Post sues the town or there is some sort of legal action, do you have funds set aside?” Taylor asked.

Hanson explained that the contingency fund had always been used for legal expenses, but in the 2006 budget, a separate legal fund was established to allow for better tracking of legal expenditures. “We have $15,000 in there, and we can put the difference of $24,000 in there as well,” Hanson said.

“I don’t believe we are done with the eminent domain issue yet,” Hanson said, referring to several lawsuits against the town regarding previous town meeting action to take some property on Town Landing Road. Selectman Wolfgang “Gus” Fasse added that “$15,000 doesn’t go too far.”

Taylor, who is also the town’s assessor, reported that a recent sales ratio study revealed the town is taxing at 70 percent to 75 percent of value, far less than state law requires.

He said an example is that one lakeside property valued at $162,000 by the town recently sold for $449,900. He said this discrepancy will cause the state to start offsetting assistance, such as Homestead Exemptions and Veterans Exemptions.

Real estate exchanges between July 2004 and June 2005 totaled $5.3 million, while that same property was valued by St. Albans at $3.2 million. “We have got to bring our valuation up,” he said. “That will cause the mill rate, now at 13.5, to drop accordingly.”

Taylor said he will not increase valuations a full 25 percent but will target an 85 percent valuation goal initially. To hire and fund an outside revaluation could cost the town up to $200,000, he said.

“The key here is the result will be fairness,” Taylor said.