KINGSTON – The conclusions in Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach’s report are “inaccurate and seem to demonstrate a lack of understanding of how positions are budgeted within the Ulster County Budget,” Deputy County Executive Kenneth Crannell said.
He said it appears that the comptroller “incorrectly extrapolated vacancies on a given day to make assertions that somehow the administration was ‘stockpiling’ funds to create budget flexibility.” Crannell said the “assertion is blatantly false and easily shown to be inaccurate as approximately 50 percent of the positions the comptroller lists as vacant are currently filled.”
As part of this report, Crannell said Auerbach has also introduced the concept of “budgeted but unfunded vacancies,” which the deputy executive said makes “absolutely no sense as every position included in the Ulster County budget is funded. We speculate that the comptroller has misidentified vacant positions that were eliminated from budget as still being somehow included in the personnel listing.”
Auerbach’s report said that the 2017 Executive Budget funded approximately $2.25 million in unfilled vacancies, and 19 positions were vacancies listed in both the 2016 and 2017 budgets, and of the 19 positions, 11 were in the Department of Social Services.
“What the comptroller failed to investigate, was the corresponding funding streams associated with vacant positions,” Crannell said. “Not all vacancies listed in a particular budget will be paid with county taxpayer funds. Many positions, such as many of the vacant positions listed in the Department of Social Services, are 100 percent reimbursable by the state and federal government, and associated revenues are also budgeted for these positions.”
