NHP finances look good: auditor

Richard Tedesco

The Village of New Hyde Park received a passing grade on its financial status from its independent auditor at Tuesday night’s village board meeting.

William Barrett, a partner in Rynkar, Vail & Barrett, said general fund revenues were at $5.74 million, up from $5.53 million for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2012. Expenditures were down $5.38 million from $5.63 million in the previous year. And the general fund balance increased to $337,275.

Actual revenues exceeded budgeted revenues by $66,000, according to Barrett, who said the village board spent 95 cents of every $1 it budgeted for its 2011-12 fiscal year.

“It shows that you accurately budgeted your revenues,” Barrett said. 

The village finished the year with an a total general fund balance of $788,669.

“The fund balance increase represents seven weeks of expenditures,” Barrett said. 

Standard & Poor’s recently gave the village an AA bond rating based on the results of Barrett’s audit.  

Long-term debt, including serial bonds and accounts payable, went down $500,000 from 3,078,000 to $2,577,000.  

Barrett said all other existing bonds, totaling $1.9 million, were due to be paid by 2022.

“There are no balloon payments and it’s all manageable. It’s all good,” Barrett said.  

Net assets were down $18,000 for the year ending May 31.

“You were basically flat,” Barrett told the village trustees.

He also noted the village had accrued $1.44 million in post-employment liabilities over the past three years.

Barrett said he appreciated the cooperation of village employees who provided assistance in the audit.

On another fiscal front, Village of New Hyde Park Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has set a Nov. 7 “deadline” for expenses municipalities claim related to Hurricane Sandy.

“Most municipalities were working through Thanksgiving on post-storm clean-up,” Lofaro said.

He repeated the estimate of $300,000 he had cited in previous meetings for damage costs the village incurred from the storm.

Park Place resident Andrew Faglio revisited a suggestion he made that the village board initiate an examination of all trees in the village in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. During the hurricane, a tree from a neighbor’s yard across the street severed a 4,000-volt power line, struck a chain link fence and sent a power surge through a ground wire to Faglio’s house. The electrical power surge melted tiles in his basement floor and Faglio said he found his basement smoldering when he ran down to turn the breakers off.

Faglio said it was obvious that the tree causing the damage had been dead for several years.

Lofaro said inspecting trees on residents’ property would raise liability issues for the village.

“The insurance companies would be delighted to assume the responsibility,” Lofaro said.

Lofaro said the village doesn’t have the right to have DPW workers go on private property to inspect residents’ trees.

Tom Gannon, superintendent of the village DPW, said the village is in the process of retaining an arborist to inspect village trees.

Lofaro cited two instances of apparently “healthy” trees that fell on a house in one instance and on two garages in adjacent yards during the hurricane. He said since the hurricane residents have been expressing concerns over village trees they consider dangerous. Lofaro said a report from an independent arborist about the condition of village trees does not leave the village open to liability.

“Most people, because of the hurricane, don’t want trees,” Lofaro said. 

“I don’t want to see the town take liability,” Faglio said. “You can’t become the tree police for 3,500 households.”

In other developments:

• Village Trustee Donald Barbieri said he anticipated the village board would be able to issue bids on the final phase of Project Mainstreet, the project to upgrade the New Hyde Park business district. Barbieri reported last month that the state Department of Transportation is close to approving plans the village board submitted for the project. The project is being funded through a federal transportation appropriation of $1.425 million secured by U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) and community block grant funds.

• Following up on a resident’s recent report of unruly groups of teenagers gathering in New Hyde Park Memorial Park late at night, Capt. John Concannon of the New Hyde Park Auxiliary Police said he hasn’t seen any such activity in recent patrols of the park. One resident asked if Concannon had checked the sump on Denton Avenue. Concannon said he had not done so. Village of New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio said teens hanging out at the Denton Avenue sump was a traditional activity.    

• Petruccio said the New Hyde Park Road School will be using the New Hyde Park Village Hall as an evacuation site for its students in case of emergency.

Share this Article