Just a little over $8,000, again

For the second time since February, Councilmember Jon Nelson objected to payments for third-party accountant James Childress as they exceeded the monthly amount approved by the Saratoga Town Council. At the June 2 meeting of the governing body, Nelson objected to paying the entire amount invoiced by Childress, which totalled $8,482.

As was reported previously (see “No body, no crime” on page 16 of the February 26 Saratoga Sun), the Saratoga Town Council provided Childress with a list of additional tasks that included; integrating adjusted journal entries, examining the landfill fund balance, examining the water and sewer fund, reconcile bill amounts from January 2019 to October 2019 and to perform bank reconciliation for the Town of Saratoga.

The council unanimously agreed to pay Childress no more than $8,000 per month on a month-to-month basis.

At the April 7 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council (see “Just a little over $8,000” on page 12 of the April 15 Saratoga Sun), however, a bill for $8,899.15 was listed under accounts payable for the council to approve. Nelson expressed his issues with the Town being billed in excess of the agreed upon amount. At that same meeting, legal counsel Tom Thompson advised the governing body that it was possible to pay up to $8,000 and pay the remaining amount the following month.

During that meeting, Councilmember Steve Wilcoxson disagreed with the suggestion from Thompson and supported paying Childress the full amount invoiced. The full amount ended up being paid following a 3-2 vote with Nelson and Councilmember Bob Keel casting the dissenting votes.

The following meeting, held on April 21, another invoice was submitted to the Town of Saratoga from Childress and was paid in full. Under the Town of Saratoga cash requirements published in Legal No. 7626 in the April 29 Saratoga Sun, that amount was $5,180.40. This put the total amount paid to Childress in April at $14,079.55.

At the June 2 meeting, a check to Childress for the amount of $8,842 was listed under cash requirements and led to the objection from Nelson.

“I need to object to the payment to Childress because it is, again, over $8,000—which this council previously agreed not to exceed—and also includes, in review of his invoice, it includes costs for some budget prep items that I don’t think we ever discussed or approved,” said Nelson.

When it was suggested that the Town of Saratoga pay only up to $8,000 and pay the remainder the following month, Nelson stated that he was objecting to the entire payment “because it includes costs for items that this council’s never approved before.”

Councilwoman Judy Welton asked Nelson if he was sure that the items included on the invoice weren’t directives from the Saratoga Town Council, adding that they had added a number of items to his list of duties.

“There’s a number of line items in this invoice that include prep for the fiscal year 20/21 budget, which is something that we’ve never talked about him working on,” Nelson replied.

Saratoga Town Clerk Suzie Cox stated Childress was not specifically working on Fiscal Year 2020/2021, but added that his work in the previous fiscal years would make the budgeting work for the upcoming fiscal year easier.

“I don’t have a problem paying the extra $400 because we are always giving him something to do,” said Welton. “I think, pretty soon, we won’t have any bills because he’ll be finished. So, I’d like to continue with it until the end.”

When Mayor John Zeiger called for an approval of the accounts payable without the additional $482, Welton clarified that Nelson was opposed to the entire amount. Zeiger then asked for an approval of the accounts payable without the entire $8,482 to Childress. The accounts payable were approved unanimously.

At the special meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, discussion of an engagement letter and payment to Childress will be discussed along with two ordinances relating to the current and upcoming fiscal years.

The special meeting of the Saratoga Town Council will be at 5 p.m. on June 11 at Saratoga Town Hall.

The next regular meeting of the Saratoga Town Council will be at 6 p.m. on June 16 at Saratoga Town Hall.