Warren County deputy treasurer 'finds' $2.6 million

Jun. 30--QUEENSBURY -- Warren County Treasurer Michael Swan said the county has $2.6 million in a backup fund that can be used to offset shrinking sales tax receipts.

Swan reported at a recent meeting of the county Board of Supervisors that Deputy Treasurer Robert Lynch started looking for money in county accounts and found some in a a fund set aside to pay out employees' unused vacation time when they retire or resign.

Accounting standards require the county to cover the current portion of that backup fund but not the long-term reserve for future retirements, which the county has been doing for several years.

He will transfer the extra to reserve accounts, Swan said.

"We will be putting $2,435,000 back into the general fund for use to hopefully offset some of our loss of revenue," he said.

Swan estimated in April the county's sales tax revenue would drop between $8 million and $10 million because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The budget had the county receiving $55 million in sales tax revenue this year.

Some of the vacation payout cash will be used to return $158,000 to the county road fund, $41,000 to the road machinery fund, $18,000 to the employment fund and $16,000 to the self-insurance fund.

Over time, putting less money into the unused vacation time payout fund will help with budgeting, Swan said. Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, the county's budget officer, is now beginning work on the 2021 spending plan.

"Hopefully, you can start off in a little better situation than we originally hoped," Swan said.

Lake George Supervisor Dennis Dickinson said it was great news and thanked Swan.

"You can come up to the town of Lake George, see if we have any money hanging around," he said.

Reach Michael Goot at 518-742-3320 or mgoot@poststar.com and follow his blog poststar.com/blogs/michael_goot/.

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