CARMEL – The chairman of the Putnam Legislature, Dan Birmingham, has formally requested of State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli an audit to decide whether Putnam County officials have effectively managed the county’s fund balance.
In the memo, Birmingham wrote: “As of December 31, 2024 (the date of the last completed county audit), Putnam’s fund balance amounted to $190,984,923 of which amount $163,035,432 was unrestricted. For reference, the total revenues for the county’s 2026 budget are $154,593,639 and the total appropriations are $228,360,647. The 2026 budget utilized $28,554,696 in fund balance.”
Birmingham noted that members of the legislature wanted advice in determining whether “Putnam has too much fund balance and the proper manner in which such fund balance may be more appropriately utilized for direct real property tax relief as well as the establishment of reserve funds for future capital and other needs.”
The chair also advised DiNapoli that legislators recently adopted a resolution rescinding the delegation of authority to the Commissioner of Finance to assign fund balance since the nine-member governing body felt the current fund balance was “unreasonably high and that the prior assignments of fund balance hamper the county’s ability to return moneys in the fund balance directly back to the taxpayers in the form of real property tax relief.”
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