Retorting to a recent letter from Norfolk legislator Jason Clark, Madrid legislator Kevin Acres says borrowing $10 million for 12 months was the responsible choice for addressing the county’s cash flow problem.

In a letter published Sept. 24 on NorthCountryNow.com, Clark accused county Republicans of wasting money by borrowing $10 million over a 12 month period. He said figures presented by Finance Committee Chair Fred Morrill showed the county needed to borrow the funding for only six months. The shorter term would have reduced the interest from $100,000 to $50,000. Clark added that the funding would allow the county to pay its state retirement obligation early, which would save the county $65,000 early, for a net savings of $15,000.

“Mr. Acres, a Republican from Madrid, laughed off the savings as being “a drop in the bucket” against the county budget as a whole. Frankly, I think 15,000 drops in any bucket is worth saving when those drops are dollars. If I weren’t there, I wouldn’t believe this actually happened either,” Clark said in his letter.

However, in a letter to NorthCountryNow.com Acres said the numbers provided by Morrill were disputed by the county treasurer and that the sixth-month-loan would not have met the county’s needs.

“Let’s address the issue of the county borrowing $10 million for 12 months versus 6 months. The county needs 5 to 6 million in each month to meet payroll and to pay our bills. County Treasurer, Kevin Felt, prepared a spreadsheet showing the board how they would be in “the red” by December 2014, and also be in a deficit for the months of Jan., Feb., May, July, and Aug. of 2015 without borrowing the money for the 12 month period. Obviously, the money was needed throughout the year to pay our debts on time,” he said.

Acres said Democrats disputed the treasure’s figures, but were proven wrong.

“Undeterred and unconvinced by the County Treasurer’s numbers, our finance chair, Fred Morrill, referred the board to his own numbers and calculations to make the case for borrowing for only 6 months. Mr. Morrill’s calculations were incorrect. County Treasurer, Kevin Felt, politely pointed out to the board that Mr. Morrill had included as cash flow a $1,000,000 bond for highway equipment and a $2.9 million bond for energy performance in his analysis. Bonds are not cash flow, nor are they available for use as cash flow. Instead of acknowledging his error and apologizing, Mr. Morrill blustered ahead stating that the County Treasurer’s numbers must be wrong,” the letter said.

Clark however disagreed, saying that Felt’s numbers were wrong.

“Despite the fact that the county treasurer’s calculations were wrong, the amendment failed with every Republican member of the board voting against it. Mr. Felt’s original resolution then went on to pass with three Democrats, including myself, voting against it. On that vote, the Republican members of the legislature cost the county $50,000,” he said.

Acres said the county board voted to do the right thing.

“Mr. Clark wants you to ask the Republicans why they “threw away $50,000 of your hard earned tax dollars”. We didn’t. County Treasurer, Kevin Felt, works with the numbers every day and pays the bills every day. It’s his job, his profession, and he wants to see the county on firm financial ground. We took his advice and believed his numbers. Twelve out of 15 Legislators, 80 percent, voted for the 12 months of borrowing.”

Both letters can be found in the NorthCountryNow.com opinions section or in the above links.