A court filing by Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher describes county Resource Recovery Agency officials as defiant and argumentative in refusing to turn over documents about the agency’s composting operation. Daily Freeman | 7/13/21

Ulster County continues to operate on sure financial footing and without fiscal stress, county Comptroller March Gallagher said in a report issued Monday. Daily Freeman | 7/12/21

“We were in a [housing] crisis two years ago,” said March Gallagher, Ulster County Comptroller. And now, “we’ve lost a huge number of [long term] rentals to short term rentals, to Airbnb.” She added, “If we don’t learn how to say yes to building things, it’s going to get worse.” Hudson Valley One | 7/9/21

Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher says Resource Recovery Agency documents provided by the chairman of the county Legislature can’t be used for her planned audit Daily Freeman | 7/8/21

Ulster County comptroller March Gallagher says the chairman of the county legislature David Donaldson set a dangerous precedent when he took the unusual step of intervening in her attempts to audit the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA). Hudson Valley one | 7/7/21

“As Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher continues her efforts to audit the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency, she now says Legislature Chairman David Donaldson’s involvement is setting “an alarming precedent putting the comptroller’s oversight of hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts at risk.” Gallagher said the documents provided by Donaldson do “appear to confirm” … Read More

Among the agreements involved in composting is a March 7, 2017, contract for a $237,000 composting grant that Gallagher said was the basis for auditing authority. Complaints involving the operations have included allegations of favoritism in selling compost to agency employee Willie Whittaker; violations of a contract provision to not “create odor, litter, pollutants or … Read More

The Ulster County comptroller’s efforts to gather information about operations at the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) could end up in court. Hudson Valley One | 6/30/21

Information being sought includes journal entry documentation from 2019 through April 2021 involving compost; a record for the agency scales involving composting; documentation on the actual expenditures involving composting operations; a detailed list of receipts by customers for compost sales; description of the inventory control procedures for compost operations; any policies or procedures in place … Read More

Holding on to more money in our fund balance than we need to impacts the taxpayers. We can give a tax cut or lower tax increase if we hold less there, and I think we have also learned that during emergencies we are going to see changes in the state and federal government that are … Read More