BERNE — The town of Berne’s payroll account was overdrawn three times in 2023, bank statements obtained by The Enterprise reveal, along with what appears to be a persistent pattern of transferring money between accounts — unauthorized in at least some cases — to shore up balances as needed.

The statements add to a growing pile of evidence that the town is in poorer financial shape than most people are aware. 

The Enterprise had obtained hundreds of pages of financial records in response to a Freedom of Information Law request last month.

While the state comptroller’s office released an audit of Berne in 2021 — making 11 recommendations to the town, of which only one was initially followed — the office’s press secretary, Mark Johnson, told The Enterprise this week that it is not currently auditing Berne and that it would not comment on specific transfers outside that context. 

“However, it is not uncommon for local governments to make transfers each month,” he said.

Former town board member Leo Vane Jr., who resigned last month alongside former board members Al Thiem and Joe Martin, told The Enterprise this week that he had not been aware of the overdrafts but “it would not surprise me.”

Thiem could not be reached, and Martin only took office this year, after the overdrafts had occurred. 

Supervisor Dennis Palow could not be reached, nor could the town’s senior accounting clerk Andrea Borst, or the last remaining town board member, Thomas Doolin. 

It was growing concern about the town’s finances under Supervisor Dennis Palow that was a critical factor in the three board members’ decision to leave. In the six weeks since they resigned, the vacant board seats have not been filled. (See related editorial on page 2.)

Martin told The Enterprise that he became aware money was being transferred after he investigated old bank statements himself. 

Martin and Vane both said that when they tried to look at the records more closely in Town Hall last month, Palow became irate and effectively kicked them out. 

“The supervisor told me that he’s not telling me a ‘f-cking thing,’ and then he told me the meeting’s over and to get out and be done,” Martin told The Enterprise last month.

Overdrafts and transfers

The first payroll overdraft was on Jan. 24, 2023, when the account was overdrawn by $114.49, and then a further $37 for an overdraft fee that was ultimately reversed.

That same day, $5,000 was deposited into the account. An additional $32,148.60 was added through various deposits the following day, including from the general fund account. 

The second overdraft was in March, and occurred over a series of days. First, on March 15, the account was overdrawn by $9.54, and a series of withdrawals put the account $2,450.05 in the red by March 17. That amount was deposited into the account on March 20 from an unknown account. 

Again, more money was deposited from the general fund and two other unknown accounts to bring the balance up to a viable number. 

The third overdraft occurred in August, again over a number of days, with the balance this time dipping to a low of -$2,709.09 before the general fund and numerous other accounts, including the highway and sewer funds, were tapped for a total of $72,764.08.

Although there were no other overdrafts in the period the Enterprise looked at — between Jan. 2023 and Aug. 2024 — the payroll account balance would frequently drop down to the single-thousands or even the hundreds on numerous occasions before money would be transferred in. 

Transfers, meanwhile, were plentiful in this period, occurring many times a month from many different accounts, sometimes being labeled as temporary loans that were transferred back at a later time. 

The three former board members have said that transfers were occurring without their authorization, which is corroborated by the authorized transfers published by the town for this year. 

Using March of 2024 as an example, only $12,403 was authorized for a number of specific, small-value transfers to budget lines like highway equipment, senior transportation, equipment repairs, and so on. 

Yet, that month, payroll alone saw more than $94,920.60 moved into it from several different accounts. And in April, the payroll account received over $100,000, not counting the deposit of Albany County sales-tax money.