Audit & Administration committee forwards a slate of budget transfers, personnel changes and Code Blue funds to full legislature

Putnam County's Audit & Administration Committee on Sept. 24, 2024, moved a package of budget transfers, personnel reclassifications and program funding items to the full legislature for final action.

Votes at a glance (as recorded in committee): - Item 3: Approval of minutes for Aug. 26, 2024 ' Motion and voice vote recorded 'Aye' (approved by committee). - Item 4: 2023 audit presentation by PKF O'Connor Davies ' presentation and Q&A; no formal committee acceptance vote recorded in the transcript. - Item 5 series (correspondence): Sales tax report, OTP report, transfer revenue and contingency items ' FYI; no committee objections. - Item 6 series (moved to full): overtime/temporary report (FYI); DPW insurance recovery for guardrail damage ($14,419.76) ' forwarded; Health Department budgetary amendment for preschool unanticipated costs ($324,000; county local share ~40.5% cited by staff) ' forwarded; Sheriff's CAD/records-management amendment ($31,000) ' forwarded; training reimbursements (Drug Recognition Expert / advanced roadside impaired driving) reimbursed through New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee ' forwarded; Soil & Water equipment purchase for Putnam Valley culvert ($77,000) ' forwarded; legal-aid funding recognition ($116,000) ' forwarded; parks/water-sewer and other small moves ($22,500; $864.29) ' forwarded. - Items 7—3: Department of Social Services fund transfers and related agreements with the sheriff (including $25,515 and a $13,444 transfer) and a small title/position funding adjustment ($3,118) ' forwarded. - Item 9: Youth Bureau temporary attorney coverage ($3,500) ' forwarded. - Item 10: Sheriff's reclassification (lieutenant to first sergeant) ' forwarded; transcript records discussion about pay/union implications, and the change was submitted at the employee's request. - Item 11: Senior resources reclassification to align positions ($11,829.63) ' forwarded. - Item 12: County attorney outstanding legal services (transfer from contingency: $150,000) ' forwarded. - Item 13: DSS SPO agreement transfer ($13,444) ' forwarded. - Item 14: Emergency services dispatch backup phone licenses ($4,000) ' forwarded. - Item 15: Soil & Water/NYS Department of Agriculture funds for Kirk Lake fish cradles ($6,000) ' forwarded. - Item 16: Senior resources vehicle leasing through year-end ($5,100) ' forwarded. - Item 17: Lawson Senior Resources food and janitorial expenses due to increased meal counts (~$38,178); staff introduced Kevin Monahan, nutrition manager, who said meal service is up about 20% year over year and projected roughly 105,000 meals in 2024 (up from ~87,000 in 2023). The transfer was forwarded. - Item 18: Added to agenda and approved ' reallocation of $10,962 in unutilized funds for Code Blue shelter/hotel expenses for nights below freezing; public commenter Dan Birmingham described use of Code Blue funds and local shelter history.

Each item listed above was moved or signed in committee by motion and recorded as passing on voice vote ('Aye'). Final appropriation authority rests with the full Putnam County Legislature.

Public comment: Dan Birmingham, speaking during the Code Blue discussion, urged support for the emergency shelter program and described Brewster Cares and earlier local responses when unsheltered residents faced severe cold.

What happens next: The committee forwarded the package to the full legislature for final approval; individual appropriation and reclassification actions will be subject to the full body's review and any additional oversight steps required by county rules.