MAHAN FUDGES FIGURES ON LANDFILL DEAL
October 18, 2011
MAHAN FUDGES FIGURES ON LANDFILL DEAL
New Information Reveals Landfill Deal Will Not Eliminate General Fund Deficit
COLONIE – Colonie Town Supervisor candidate, Denise Sheehan, today chastised the Mahan Administration’s for its latest attempts to distort the facts about the Colonie landfill deal, as new details surfaced that refute repeated claims by Supervisor Mahan that the deal would eliminate Town’s General Fund deficit.
“The Mahan Administration misled taxpayers, giving up the town’s No. 1 revenue-generating asset without solving the Town’s General Fund deficit,” Sheehan said “They promised taxpayers that the landfill deal would eliminate both the landfill and General Fund deficits. It is now painfully obvious that the General Fund deficit hasn’t been cured, and the Supervisor is now back-tracking from those statements.”
On September 20, the town transferred control of the Colonie landfill to an out-of-state waste conglomerate from California, Waste Connections. Despite repeated promises by the Mahan Administration that the landfill agreement would erase the town’s General Fund deficit, figures shared at last night’s town board meeting indicate that the one-time cash infusion will not erase Colonie’s General Fund deficit.
While providing few details and allowing only a limited two weeks for public input on the landfill plan, the Mahan Administration made repeated promises in media reports and public meetings that funding from the deal would eliminate the Town’s General Fund deficit. The Town’s own website includes a new release repeating this claim www.colonie.org However, to date, the Town has provided neither hard numbers on the Town’s current fiscal condition nor a specific plan for the use of the landfill revenues.
Instead of using the funds as the Mahan Administration had promised, and paying off the General Fund’s deficit, the one-time $23 million cash infusion must be used to retire bonds associated with the landfill. At last night’s meeting, the Supervisor indicated that they now plan to use $11 million to pay off outstanding bonds, leaving only $12 million to apply to General Fund deficit (last known to be $18.2 million as of 12/31/2010). The Town Comptroller added that it could be 90 days before they will have a specific plan for the $23 million. There is currently $26 million in outstanding bonds on the landfill.
“The Mahan Administration force-fed Colonie residents a deal that was opposed by some of the highest-ranking Democrat municipal leaders in Albany County and by the only certified public accountant on the Town Board,” Sheehan said. “We need to hold the administration accountable for its false claims. This was a terrible deal brought about by a terrible process, and the residents of Colonie deserve far better.”
For more information on Denise Sheehan, please visit her website.
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