KNOX — Albany County is claiming that Knox used more than 300 tons of its road salt over the last two winters without permission and demands $18,000 as repayment. 

In a letter sent by the county to town officials on Tuesday, March 18, attorney Brian T. Cook Jr. states that the county disagrees with logs Knox had submitted that claimed the town had used 138.5 tons of salt during the 2023-24 winter season, something that was brought up in January, when the county had forbidden town workers from loading salt onto town trucks themselves. 

Knox and Albany County have shared a salt shed for years, but, earlier this month, according to Cook’s letter, the county sent cease-and-desist letters to the town.

Cook wrote that, if Knox fails to pay within seven days of receiving the letter, the county will deduct the $18,000 from the town’s sales-tax disbursement.

Knox Supervisor Russ Pokorny told The Enterprise on Tuesday that he had received the letter earlier that morning and has reached out to the town’s attorneys at Monaco Cooper Lamme & Carr. 

“What I can say is we don’t feel like we shorted them salt at the salt shed,” Pokorny said. “We feel like the problem is accounting, and as a matter of fact we put $17,000 worth of salt in the shed between December and January … That’s about half a year’s use, so I don’t know how we could possibly be missing 300 tons. That seems absurd.” 

Pokorny also said that in the time between the January meeting and receiving the letter on March 18, he had tried multiple times to get in touch with county officials but was unsuccessful. 

County spokeswoman Mary Rozak told The Enterprise that “Albany County Department of Law conducted an investigation with video footage provided by our Division of Information Services and information provided by our Department of Public  Works.”

She added that in conversations with Pokorny, “we explained that it was an ongoing investigation and we would provide a formal response when the investigation was finalized.”

Pokorny said he hopes that attorneys for the two governments will be able to meet and hash out the issue in a way that’s fair. 

If the town is unsuccessful in defending itself or adjusting the valuation, he said an $18,000 bill won’t be difficult for the town to absorb, but that it would be an inappropriate use of residents’ tax dollars under the circumstances. 

“There’s no proof at all, no totals, no evidence that what they’re alleging is true,” he said. 

Barred from the county shed, Pokorny said, the town is still looking into building its own shed — an expense that, in January, he said would likely fall between $15,000 and $20,000, but now says is more likely to be between $20,000 and $25,000. 

Although born from conflict, Pokorny says that Knox having its own shed will be easier for the town anyway. 

“It would eliminate this question,” he said. “Buy our own, use our own — we wouldn’t have to keep track of it.”