LOUISVILLE — The Town of Louisville is considered to be in moderate fiscal distress by the state Comptroller’s Office and town residents want to know what is being done to improve matters.
Roughly three dozen residents crammed into a board room at the town offices recently to raise a number of concerns related to the finances of the town, ranging from unpaid bills, to alleged mismanagement of the Golf Course at Louisville Landing, as well as an ongoing state audit.
Unpaid bills questioned
One resident requested an explanation from the board regarding a bill “that was sent out for a warrant” by the state, commenting the bill was “10 months past due” at the time.
“Why did it take a warrant before the bill was paid? Now we have to pay fines or fees on that. It’s costing us more money,” she said.
Town Supervisor Larry Legault sidestepped the situation, saying it was “now a legal matter” and would only be discussed by the board in executive session.
“It wasn’t a legal matter before though. It was a public document. It was a bill to the town that taxpayers were footing the tab on,” the speaker said.
After more questions on the matter Legault briefly detailed a bill that the town had paid “about $14,000 on,” noting a filing issue led to the situation at hand.
Legault put blame on the state’s handling of the payment before again saying it was “a legal matter” that he would not speak on.
“But why did it take so long to pay the bill? Why has it come to this? It’s going to cost taxpayers even more money,” the resident responded.
Legault said the matter was “complicated” and not something that would be discussed by the board in a public session.
Residents then questioned how many other bills went unpaid, with two members of the public saying the unpaid bill will result in thousands of dollars in added expenses.
“Who pays for that mistake? We do and you don’t have an explanation for it,” one resident said.
State audit also in question
Other residents went a step further, questioning if a state audit was still ongoing.
Legault and board members confirmed the town was in the midst of an audit during the meeting.
That prompted additional questions from residents, many of whom suggested there had been issues with the audit that led to a “deeper dive of the town’s finances.”
“What are they looking at now? Because this should have been done months ago. What else is wrong?” one resident asked.
Board members refused to offer further details of the audit but did confirm a firm hired by the town had been on site multiple times as part of the audit.
No other comments were offered during the public comment period.
Golf course finances questioned
Residents also voiced concerns about the expenses and profit or loss of the Golf Course at Louisville Landing.
One resident provided figures that included roughly $440,000 budgeted for the course in the previous year’s budget, a document that showed a return of roughly $415,000.
“So, if I’m reading this right, that shows a roughly $25,000 loss. Now, that course is not supposed to be using any tax dollars. I’m not a math whiz, but that doesn’t sound good,” he said.
Legault refuted the figures, saying he was not sure of the exact figures but said what was being provided in the statement “did not sound accurate.”
But it was later revealed in the meeting that those figures likely were in fact accurate, with Board Member Raymond Drake noting that once end of year bills were added, the course did in fact lose about $25,000.
Board members said they still felt it was a good year as the course took a smaller loss compared to the previous two years.
The same resident also raised concerns about recent conjecture at Cedar View Golf Course, where he is a member.
Rumors of the course closing due to a planned solar project nearby have continued to swirl, prompting talks of where Cedar View members may golf.
The resident told board members they “are dead wrong” if they think members from Cedar View would switch to the course in Louisville.
“It seems to be everyone’s idea that members would all switch to Louisville and that would make the course profitable eventually. We held an informal vote at the end of the season and almost unanimously members voted against the idea of joining Louisville if Cedar View were to close,” he said.
The resident said town board members “better go back to the drawing board” to find another way to make the course profitable.
“If the plan is to just wait for Cedar View to close, I can tell you there won’t be a membership increase like you’re planning,” he said.
The project near the Cedar View Course, which is proposed by Boralex, would encompass more than 1,000 acres to create a 200 MW array.
A recent public hearing was deemed “standing room only” by many attendees who spoke with North Country Week, the majority of whom decried the project and its potential impacts on the environment and area businesses and residents.