FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 FOLLOW DENISE SHEEHAN ON FACEBOOK

MAHAN FUDGES FIGURES ON LANDFILL DEAL

New Information Reveals Landfill Deal Will Not Eliminate General Fund Deficit COLONIE Colonie Town Supervisor candidate, Denise Sheehan, today chastised the Mahan Administrations for its latest attempts to distort the facts about the Colonie landfill deal, as new details surfaced that refute repeated claims by Supervisor Mahan that the deal would eliminate Towns General Fund deficit. The Mahan Administration misled taxpayers, giving up the towns No. 1 revenue-generating asset without solving the Towns General Fund deficit, Sheehan said They promised taxpayers that the landfill deal would eliminate both the landfill and General Fund deficits. It is now painfully obvious that the General Fund deficit hasnt been cured, and the Supervisor is now back-tracking from those statements. On September 20, the town transferred control of the Colonie landfill to an out-of-state waste conglomerate from California, Waste Connections. Despite repeated promises by the Mahan Administration that the landfill agreement would erase the towns General Fund deficit, figures shared at last nights town board meeting indicate that the one-time cash infusion will not erase Colonies General Fund deficit. While providing few details and allowing only a limited two weeks for public input on the landfill plan, the Mahan Administration made repeated promises in media reports and public meetings that funding from the deal would eliminate the Towns General Fund deficit. The Towns own website includes a new release repeating this claim www.colonie.org However, to date, the Town has provided neither hard numbers on the Towns current fiscal condition nor a specific plan for the use of the landfill revenues. Instead of using the funds as the Mahan Administration had promised, and paying off the General Funds deficit, the one-time $23 million cash infusion must be used to retire bonds associated with the landfill. At last nights meeting, the Supervisor indicated that they now plan to use $11 million to pay off outstanding bonds, leaving only $12 million to apply to General Fund deficit (last known to be $18.2 million as of 12/31/2010). The Town Comptroller added that it could be 90 days before they will have a specific plan for the $23 million. There is currently $26 million in outstanding bonds on the landfill. The Mahan Administration force-fed Colonie residents a deal that was opposed by some of the highestranking Democrat municipal leaders in Albany County and by the only certified public accountant on the Town Board, Sheehan said. We need to hold the administration accountable for its false claims. This was a terrible deal brought about by a terrible process, and the residents of Colonie deserve far better.

For more information on Denise Sheehan, please visit her website. ###