Iam writing this article in response to former Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority Chairman Paul Kolkmeyer’s cautionary words in his commentary piece in The Buffalo News on Nov. 15.

In the piece, Kolkmeyer warned of the need for the continued existence of a hard oversight panel mostly because of the school district’s “fragile state of potential financial duress” with potential state aid cuts looming.

Let me first congratulate Kolkmeyer on his exemplary voluntary service as chairman of the control board and the good work in general of the oversight panel and its spirit of cooperation over the last six years.

The control board’s “hard” oversight certainly helped chart the city’s course to fiscal stability, evidenced by last year’s record $133.3 million fund balance. Now pardon me, but the stating of our positive results is not “pounding our chests,” as Kolkmeyer put it, but simply reporting the financial facts.

I would also note for the record that last year’s results were not a one-time occurrence. Our fund balance has increased steadily over the last five years, we have had three straight balanced budgets (one of the criteria for moving the oversight board from hard to soft), we have lowered our outstanding capital indebtedness from $415.6 million in 2004 to $364.8 million this year, and we have received four bond upgrades over the last 36 months from Wall Street.

We are certainly not unmindful of the current crisis facing the state and the threat it poses to municipalities and school districts. I would also agree with Kolkmeyer that some of the biggest budgetary problems must be resolved in Albany.

However, while there are still many challengers we face, including some unresolved labor contracts, I believe the city is prepared to chart its own course without an extra layer of costly oversight that is budgeted at nearly $900,000 this year.

I would also note that the control board is currently sitting on $22.7 million of state aid money, still not released to the city. That’s a total of more than $23 million that is currently tied up with the control board.

It is my strong belief that we can shed much of those costs, infuse that money into our city financials and continue to move forward on our own without the “hard” supervision of an unelected oversight board.

Other cities across the state are facing the same potential losses, but I think we are in better shape than most to weather whatever storm comes, provide services to our taxpayers and live to fight another day.

Kolkmeyer deserves thanks for his service, but I am among those individuals he refers to who do believe the control board has outlived its usefulness. It is time for the city to conduct its own business and be accountable directly to the taxpayers for the results. The time has come to end this chapter and move on.

Andrew A. SanFilippo is Buffalo city comptroller.