Culhane has reduced taxes, increased transparency in Gaines

Posted 19 October 2015 at 12:00 am

Editor:

By now, every resident of the Town of Gaines must know that, under the leadership of Town Supervisor Carol Culhane, the tax rate for the 2016 Budget will be lower by 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed property. Actually. town taxes have been reduced consistently for the past three years by Supervisor Culhane. How many budgets, of any kind, are LOWER in these times?

That is just one of the many accomplishments made by Supervisor Culhane since she took office in 2012. Following is a list of some of those accomplishments:

Reduced budget and efficiencies savings on the day to day operations. In her first year saved $72,000.

Manages the Town of Gaines website, keeping it current so town residents have easy access to information.

Discovered the over-levying of the water debt, which amounted to $205,000 over eight years. Water District #4 is now paid off and eight out of the other ten are paid down, resulting in lower water levies for the residents.

Reconciled water billing to make sure customers are fairly charged and accounted for correctly.

Discovered the water loss and implemented controls to monitor closely.

Scheduled a water audit to make sure the water systems didn’t have any more problems.

Initiated the first financial audit in seven years! There will now be annual audits to make sure the fiscal house is in order.

Secured the lowest prices for the best services (i.e. insurance saving of $6,500 annually).

New accounting firm with attendance at all Board meetings and complete accessibility at all times.

New security system that is directly connected to the Fire Department with a substantial cost savings.

Fuel monitoring at the highway garage.

Established policies and procedures providing guidelines for the Town.

Put together an Employee Handbook to protect the workers as well as the Town’s best interests.

Supervisor Culhane is a big promoter of the Town of Gaines. She is helping Gaines to become a part of the bigger picture in the county by meeting with other town supervisors and community leaders. She keeps informed on a larger scale.

She also has a policy of being present at her office as supervisor to problem solve or assist in any way possible.

Culhane has always worked toward open and transparent government and town actions for “the greater good”. For “the greater good” of the Town of Gaines, please vote for Carol Culhane for Supervisor on Nov. 3rd.

Sincerely,

 

Connie and John Mosher
Gaines