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Council weighs year‑end budget transfers, police overtime and purchase of three patrol vehicles
Summary
Comptroller Robinson described year‑end interfund transfers to buy three police vehicles from unused personnel and equipment lines; councilors questioned whether personnel savings should instead cover significant overtime overages and asked for follow‑up memos from department heads.
Binghamton’s work session included multiple year‑end finance items that would reallocate unspent lines to cover overages and capital needs. Comptroller Robinson explained that unused salary and equipment repair lines in the police budget could be transferred into the capital fund to purchase three patrol cars; the purchase would be an interfund transfer and is expected to be processed through the capital fund.
Council members pressed for clarity on vehicle replacement schedules and stressed the trade‑off between using personnel savings for capital purchases versus covering overtime shortfalls. One council member said, "we should use the personnel money toward the overtime first and then decide where we're pulling money from," arguing that overtime reflects unfilled positions rather than surplus funds. Comptroller Robinson responded that vacancies this year (around seven unfilled police positions were cited) and other open positions would partially cover the negotiated wage lookback and that some departments have interest earnings or other available balances to draw on.
Separately, business manager Billy Goodson and Comptroller Robinson presented a negotiated CPI look‑back under the CSEA agreement that will result in a lump‑sum payout for current employees (Robinson cited a rough estimate of $50,014 for base adjustments and $12,639.37 for overtime). Council moved several finance items, including expedition votes, to the upcoming Wednesday business meeting for final action and requested memos from department heads explaining overtime drivers and the city’s plan for 2025 budgeting.
Next steps: The council expedited several of the RL items for formal consideration at the business meeting and asked staff to provide memos on overtime causes and the proposed vehicle‑replacement schedule prior to final votes.
