Cattaraugus overestimated expenses in ’07
LITTLE VALLEY — The Cattaraugus County Legislature budgeted $6 million more than was needed to meet expenses in 2007, according to an audit of Treasurer Joe Keller’s comprehensive financial report for the year.
In the audit report, delivered Wednesday by representatives of the firm Toski, Schaefer & Co. of Williamsville, some of the excess resulted because of savings in the Department of Social Services.
Also, the budget counted on using $1.5 million from surplus to cover expenses, but that money was not used and the general fund reaped a budgetary surplus of $1.96 million. Overall, the county’s combined funds reported a year-end balance of $30.72 million, an increase of $337,946.
The unreserved fund balance of $22.23 million repre - sents 16.3 percent of the county’s total ending fund operating expenditures.
For the first time, the county included its pension liability of $8.99 million in its 2007 financial report and must, by federal law, begin budgeting for that cost.
“[This means] you have to determine to set up trust account for retirees or look at packages. This year you paid $3 million for health insurance — your costs will go up and you have to raise taxes for it. You need to take this into account to stabilize the fund balance for tax rates,” said Joe Klimak of Toski, Schaefer.
The report also noted the county nursing homes’ enterprise funds will not receive Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements until late in 2008, but some improvement was predicted for the next three years.
The Olean Pines maintains a high occupancy rate but received an infusion of $1.11 million from the general fund. The Machias Pines experienced a net loss of $1.31 million.
In another matter, lawmakers agreed to support the abandonment of the 32-mile Buffalo- Pittsburgh Railway roadbed and the creation of a new Erie- Cattaraugus Rail Trail from Orchard Park to West Valley.
The proposal was outlined by Rick LeFeber, executive director of the Cattaraugus Local Development Corporation, an organization which helped convert the Erie Railroad road bed into the Senator Pat McGee Trail that opened in 2005, connecting Salamanca to the village of Cattaraugus trail.
LeFeber said the Buffalo- Pittsburgh section would become the next piece of an extension of the Buffalo-Niagara Greenway toward Ellicottville and beyond to Salamanca and Allegany State Park.
