Of Shell Games and the Silly Season
You may have heard the opponents of this legislature again on the radio, stating things which are directly contradicted by the record. This time, it's calling the economic success "a shell game".
This is particularly curious, given that the very question was put to Independent Auditor Rick McNeilly by Budget & Finance Chairman Kurt Behrenfeld: "Is this really a matter of true financial success or is this the result of pushing certain costs out into the future to make this year's budget look good. In other words, is this just a shell game?"
To which Mr. McNeilly responded: "This is no shell game".
Here's some background: Mr. McNeilly had grown frustrated with Cortland County's recent record of not giving him the needed financial data to begin his audit in his usual time frame. He would prefer to be able to begin his audit in mid-April to early May, but over the past several years, he hadn't been able to begin until the fall, because the Treasurer's Office was not giving him the information he needed. The very fact that he had concluded his audit in early September was evidence in its own right that "operations are much, much improved" (another quote from Mr. McNeilly, in regard to the performance of Cortland County government).
So, "much, much improved operations" allowed him to finish his audit at the same time of year as he had started his audits in recent years. He highlighted the fact that we had been given a budget of $71 million but had only spent $62.7 million, realizing a surplus of $4.8 million. When asked if this performance was genuine or the result of some fancy numerical sleight of hand, he answered forcefully "This is no shell game".
And once again, the opposition, who should be claiming their share of the credit for all of the good things that have happened, instead directly contradict the independent auditor's assessment of the financial situation and claim that this is merely a shell game.
I will go with the Independent Auditor - he's a financial professional, and he's not running for office, so he has no reason to mislead or spin. As for our opponents, here's their shell game.
This is particularly curious, given that the very question was put to Independent Auditor Rick McNeilly by Budget & Finance Chairman Kurt Behrenfeld: "Is this really a matter of true financial success or is this the result of pushing certain costs out into the future to make this year's budget look good. In other words, is this just a shell game?"
To which Mr. McNeilly responded: "This is no shell game".
Here's some background: Mr. McNeilly had grown frustrated with Cortland County's recent record of not giving him the needed financial data to begin his audit in his usual time frame. He would prefer to be able to begin his audit in mid-April to early May, but over the past several years, he hadn't been able to begin until the fall, because the Treasurer's Office was not giving him the information he needed. The very fact that he had concluded his audit in early September was evidence in its own right that "operations are much, much improved" (another quote from Mr. McNeilly, in regard to the performance of Cortland County government).
So, "much, much improved operations" allowed him to finish his audit at the same time of year as he had started his audits in recent years. He highlighted the fact that we had been given a budget of $71 million but had only spent $62.7 million, realizing a surplus of $4.8 million. When asked if this performance was genuine or the result of some fancy numerical sleight of hand, he answered forcefully "This is no shell game".
And once again, the opposition, who should be claiming their share of the credit for all of the good things that have happened, instead directly contradict the independent auditor's assessment of the financial situation and claim that this is merely a shell game.
I will go with the Independent Auditor - he's a financial professional, and he's not running for office, so he has no reason to mislead or spin. As for our opponents, here's their shell game.
posted by Doc Paul @ 10:10 PM
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