Woodbury — Woodbury village officials have agreed with their town counterparts to seek special state legislation to allow water and sewer districts to return to town jurisdiction.
The move would avoid what Supervisor John Burke has said would be the unnecessary cost to taxpayers of $215,000 for the severance pay of about 12 unionized employees from the districts and the building department.
The severance costs are part of an agreement with the unions requiring the town to pay workers their accumulated vacation and sick time upon leaving town employment, Burke said.
State law requires the water and sewer districts to dissolve and re-form under the jurisdiction of the village, which encompasses all of the town, except for its portion of the Village of Harriman.
Mayor Stephanie Berean-Weeks said the union expressed a willingness to reach an agreement to avoid the added costs. Nonetheless, she said, the village is cooperating with trying to return the districts to the town.
The water and sewer districts will remain in the village until the special legislation passes, at which time, the village will hand back any collected fees to the town, Berean-Weeks said.
The agreement comes after the recent finalization of the village budget, which asks taxpayers to foot $811,070 of a $1.7 million general fund. Village officials reduced by $4,000 the salary of clerk Desiree Potvin, who initially expected to receive $24,000, and applied $3,500 toward a village Web site and $500 toward a deputy clerk for Potvin.
The budget's final tax rate, which is scheduled to go into effect June 1, is $1.39 per $1,000 of assessed value.
OK, so the article, using Burke as a source, seems to say that we need the special legislation to avoid the $215,000 payout to deal with accumulated sick time and vacation days.
Sullivan's last article on this subject, also quoting Burke, also said that the town was going to have to come up with the money for the payout.
And that's not the case.
Yes, we would need special legislation if we want to keep the Water/Sewer Department with the town. That's true.
But even if the Department moves to the Village, there is already an agreement in place for the Village to assume the contractural obligations to the workers so that they can hold onto their seniority and their accumulated sick time and vacation time.
Sullivan almost, sorta, kinda, nearly says this in the fifth paragraph, but he makes it clear as mud.
When Berean-Weeks told him that the agreement was in place he should have checked that out, found that that was correct and then dumped the whole lead-in suggesting that the $215,000 payout was hanging over Woodbury's head.
But what fun would that have been?
Hey, Sullivan, eventually you might figure out that John Burke is not the most reliable source of information.
2 comments:
WOW! $500.00 to assist Desiree Potvin? Who wouldn't want that job? They should pay Desiree $500.00, and $20,000.00 to the poor shmuck that has to put up with her bull. Your days as clerk are numbered Ms. Potvin.
And your name would be??????? And you would know that her days are numbered how???????? Another one of the know it alls. If she's not doing her job, then yes, get rid of her. However, unless you can prove that, go bark up someone else's tree.
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