GLEN - Auditors from the state comptroller's office warned that a trend in relying heavily on the town's fund balance over recent years could lead to difficulty planning for the town's financial future.
Despite that concern, auditors wrote in a report released Wednesday that they did "not consider the town to be fiscally stressed at this time."
Nevertheless, the audit suggests the town develop a financial plan to carry it into the future and ensure that town officials review the plan throughout the year.
"The town of Glen failed to adopt realistic, structurally balanced budgets. This isn't good for the town or its taxpayers," state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a news release.
Auditors also suggested the town "should develop realistic and accurate estimates in preparing the annual budget and monitor the budget throughout the year."
According to the audit, town officials from 2005 to 2009 did not realistically estimate upcoming fund balance figures and, as a result, the fund balances were depleted for three of the town's major operating funds. Two of the declines -the general fund and highway outside-village [of Fultonville] fund - were significant, auditors said.
In 2007, the town general fund had a deficit of $225,987, which exceeded the planned deficit by $56,492, according to the report.
In 2008, the Town Board adopted a budget that called for $143,657 from the fund balance, even though only $92,394 of the unreserved fund balance was available for use, according to the report.
In 2005, the unreserved fund balance totaled $182,812. By 2009, the fund balance totaled $29,154.
In 2006, the board appropriated a fund balance that did not exist in the highway-outside village fund when they approved a budget that called for $140,000 for the 2007 budget when only $30,113 was available in the unreserved fund balance for that fund. That created a $109,887 deficit. However, a surplus in 2007 and 2008 stopped the decline from growing.
"While the fund has realized positive trends over 2007 and 2008, there continues to be a heavy reliance on the appropriation of fund balance to help finance operations even though the surplus fund balance available for appropriation is either nonexistent or, at best, negligible," auditors said in the report.
Glen Supervisor Lawrence Coddington, who took office this year, stressed that the audit stated that overall, the town's finances are not in a desperate state, but town officials will be happy to take a broader look at the town's financial planning and see how they can improve.
"There's really nothing glaring in that report," Coddington said Thursday. "I was very pleased with the audit, to be honest. There was no misappropriation of funds. We're glad to work with them to improve."
He said the town is working on an outline of a five- to 10-year plan for the town's future finances to be submitted to the comptroller's office.
Amanda Whistle covers Montgomery County news. She can be reached at montco@leaderherald.com.