About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2013 NY Att'y Gen. Rep. & Op. 1 (2013)

handle is hein.nyattgen/nysag0134 and id is 1 raw text is: Town Law §§ 20(1)(a), 50-a(1), 50-a(2), 52(1), 60(1), 64(1), 119(1); Municipal Home Rule Law §§ 10(1)(i), 10(1)(ii)(a) A town council member may not also serve as financial operations manager. March 6, 2013 William M. Wallens Informal Opinion Counsel No. 2013-1 Town of New Paltz Roemer, Wallens, Gold & Mineaux, LLP 13 Columbia Circle Albany, NY 12203 Dear Mr. Wallens: You have requested an opinion relating to whether the positions of town council member and town financial operations manager or, alternatively, director of finance can be held by the same person. As explained below, we are of the opinion that they cannot. You have explained that evidence of misused public funds and inadequate oversight by a previous administration recently have come to light and now the Town is in a fiscal crisis. The town supervisor, as the Town's chief fiscal officer, has been working to stabilize the Town's financial situation. She has found that she needs the temporary assistance of a fulltime financial operations manager so that she can both resolve the Town's current fiscal problems and prepare a budget for the next year. In the course of the supervisor's remedial financial work to date, she has relied heavily on the assistance of a council member, who has become familiar with the minutia of the Town's finances. The supervisor would like the town board (comprised of the town supervisor and four persons denominated council members, Town Law § 60(1); id. § 20(1)(a)) to adopt a local law creating the temporary position of financial operations manager, who would be subject to the supervision and control of the town board, and then she would like the town board to appoint the council member to the new position.1 The council member also would continue to serve on the town board. If appointed, the member would recuse herself from town board discussion and voting relating to compensation for the position of financial operations manager. 1 You have suggested that the town supervisor alternatively could appoint the council member as director of finance pursuant to Town Law § 52(1), which would not require a local law or town board approval. This statute applies to suburban towns and you have advised that the Town is not a suburban town as statutorily defined. Town Law § 50-a(1),(2). This authority is therefore unavailing.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most