A sign on state Route 32 (Flatbush Road) in the town of Ulster, N.Y., points to the offices of the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency.
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. — Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency board members have officially chartered the agency Finance Committee in compliance with state Budget Authorities Office requirements that were adopted 17 years ago.
The move was approved in a 4-0 vote during a meeting Thursday, with board members saying the committee will be used to oversee the agency’s finances, budget and debt.
Board members, all of whom have been appointed over the past year, were surprised that there had not been a committee in place.
“That’s so critical to an organization,” board member Donna Egan said. “I don’t understand it.”
The State Budget Authorities Office website states that finance committees are required for public authorities that issue debt.
“It is the responsibility of the finance committee to review proposals for the issuance of debt by the authority and make recommendations to the full board,” state officials wrote.
In the resolution approving the formation of the agency Finance Committee, there will be a requirement for oversight of agency assets, review of audit reports for compliance issues, assessment of the agency capital plan for the use of debt, and evaluation of major proposed transactions and significant expenditures.
The agency was formed through county and state legislative action in 1987, under a charter that leaves the county Legislature responsible for dealing with any debt left by the agency if it becomes insolvent. It began operations with bonding for property and equipment as well as annual net service fees that came out of the county budget.
After more than a decade of failing to attract attention from local lawmakers, agency debt finally came to public attention with the creation of the county comptroller position. Then-county Comptroller Elliott Auerbach, in August 2010, chided the Legislature for providing the agency with $31.9 million in taxpayer subsidies without a plan for repayment and in February 2011, issued an equally critical report that found there were no plans to deal with $38.91 million in long term debt incurred by the agency.
On Friday, agency Comptroller Tim DeGraff reported that there is only $5.84 million in debt remaining and it is scheduled to have its final payment in March 2025.
There was also an end to the Legislature’s practice of including taxpayer-funded net service fees to the agency in 2013 as part of adopting flow control regulations that require haulers to bring solid waste to the agency. However, the amount had grown to $37.1 million that had been given to the agency through the county budget. No effort has been made by lawmakers to recover that funding.
The agency’s debt has also played a significant role in finding a long-term alternative to transporting solid waste to Seneca Meadows near Syracuse. Board members for about three years had tried to form a regional solid waste authority with Greene and Sullivan counties, but the effort ended when an October 2018 report was issued and the conclusion opened with an emphasis on “refunding the existing UCRRA bonds” as part of the debt that would need to be absorbed.
While the Resource Recovery Agency is a public authority, it was also chartered with provisions that county lawmakers would appoint its board members and maintain some control over the ability of the board to take out debt. In 2015, the agency had its ability to bond up to $40 million taken away and replaced with a limit of $500,000 in borrowing unless county Legislature approval is secured.
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