The Village of Russell Gardens administration has managed their financials to yield a surplus that will be used to fund road improvements, the Board of Trustees told villagers last Thursday night.
While the audit was not mandatory, the village chose to employ Skinnon and Faber, an audit and tax service specializing in government and not-for-profits, to conduct it. Michele Adamczyk, a partner at Skinnon and Faber, reported the audit findings.
“During the fiscal year, the General Fund recorded a surplus of approximately $346,000,” Adamcyk said. “During the fiscal year, the General Fund had a surplus of revenues over expenditures of approximately $346,000. This increases the total fund balance to $2,304,924.”
She added, “Of this amount $21,723 is considered non-spendable as it relates to prepaid expense expenses. The current fund balance assignments total $1,773,480.”
The report made mention of how the village remained under budget due to a cut in wages and strategically allocated funds for an LED conversion light project.
“Overall, the village’s financial position at year-end has improved and remains stable,” Adamczyk said.
James Antonelli, president at West Side Engineering, which serves 25 other villages in the region, discussed his own report on the conditions of the village roads. At the moment, he said, the project is still in the planning phase and awaits the design, bidding, and construction phases.
Antonelli’s evaluation of the road surfaces, spanning a total of 3.6 road miles in the village, adhered to the New York State Department of Transportation standard, which rates roads on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 indicating a brand-new road and 1 representing the worst condition.
Antonelli did an ocular evaluation of the conditions of the road, looking for cracks and imperfections along the surface while walking the entire village.
“According to the Cornell local roads program, they basically say using this system, once you get to five or below, the cost of any repair would generally be beyond resurfacing, milling and paving, so to speak,” he said, “And the cost would increase geometrically.”
Mayor David Miller said the village’s $1 million reserve will be used to fund the road projects anticipated for sometime next year without any effect on taxes.
“We are now publicly discussing this surplus, with further discussions planned for upcoming meetings,” he said.
