Former Councillor Marv Junkin says Council heard loan recommendation on September 5
BY VOICE STAFF
A motion to more than double the Town’s CIBC line of credit is on Council’s agenda for its Monday night meeting, the last scheduled of 2017. The motion would authorize the Town Treasurer to borrow up to $7 million dollars as “may be necessary to meet, until taxes are collected and other revenues are received, the current expenditures of the Municipality for the Current year.”
The by-law would be effective on January 1, 2018.
Upon resigning on November 6, former Councillor Marvin Junkin alleged that Council decided on September 5, following the recommendation of Treasurer Teresa Quinlin, to seek an immediate $8 million bank loan to cover urgent budget shortfalls.
After seeing this motion, Junkin said, “It is obvious to me that this is the loan that the Treasurer recommended that Council take out at the September 5 in camera meeting. As I have said from the beginning, time will prove my ‘garbled, confused, and inaccurate allegations’ to be true. The question remains the same today as it was back in September. When is this Council going to hold appropriate members of senior staff accountable for this train wreck?”
Town Clerk Nancy Bozzato did not respond to a request to confirm whether a similar motion was discussed during the September 5 closed-door meeting.
Neither Treasurer Quinlin, nor any Pelham councillor, has responded to requests for comment as to why such a credit extension was required, and how the Town’s projected expenditures and revenues for 2018 differ from previous years in such a way that requires an infusion of cash.
“I anticipate those questions about this matter will be asked and answered as Council considers the Staff recommendation,” Mayor Augustyn said.
The Town’s 2018 budget was initially planned for final approval on December 18. Instead, Quinlin will present a draft version on that date, with final approval expected on January 15.
Town Public Relations and Marketing Specialist Marc MacDonald attributed the budget’s delay to “the November 29 meeting and the time that was required to answer all of KPMG’s queries.”
