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General News: Cash Shortage Looms in Village

November 24, 2009

The village of Cornwall-on-Hudson faces a cash deficit of more than $400,000 by the end of the year, according to the village treasurer’s report submitted to the board of trustees.

With the looming deficit, most of the village trustees are reluctant to borrow money to cover the shortfall, even if that means leaving local vendors unpaid. The trustees talked about the problem at their meeting last week, where trustee Rick Gioia compared the village’s condition to being in “an induced coma,” breathing but not undertaking any activity.

Mayor Joseph Gross proposed a budget freeze on spending in the village, but no action was taken by the board.

Trustee Doug Vatter protested a strategy that included not paying vendors. “If are going to stop paying our bills next week and dozens of vendors, small businesses, are not going to get paid simply because you don’t want to put any more debt on the books,” he told his fellow board members.

Trustee Gioia agreed that the vendors need to be considered but that the impact of more debt on residents must come first. “When push comes to shove we are sitting here because we represent the citizens of the community and they put me here and I have to put them first,” Gioia said.

Mayor Gross explained further today in an interview that he is not troubled by the cash shortage, saying that it has occurred annually in recent years as a result of having to pay off the village’s debt. He says he wants to find out how big the shortage is compared to other years and notes that other municipalities face similar shortages. He took a tough stance on the consequences of pushing off payment to vendors, saying “so be it, if they want our business.”



Comments:

Would someone who has access to this information kindly post the details here?

Namely,vendor names, the goods/services they provide, and the prices they charge the village. Perhaps readers could then offer constructive solutions for managing these costs.


posted by Scott Mathews on 11/24/09 at 12:37 PM

Agreed, Id love to see this info. How much do you want to bet the expenses are embarrassing in that they are either not needed or overpriced.


posted by B Holiday on 11/25/09 at 2:12 PM

W


posted by JERRY R on 11/25/09 at 5:09 PM

Did the Village Board even read the DCJS study? sounds like they could solve their financial problems


posted by James Berryman on 11/25/09 at 5:25 PM

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