Finance Committee

FINANCE Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – 6:00 p.m. Council Chambers – Olean Municipal Building Present: Members: Chairman McCall, Vice Chairman Crawford, Alderman Bennion, Alderman Keary, Alderman Forney, Alderman Robinson, and Alderman Anastasia. Others: Mayor Amy Sherburne; Lens Martial, City Auditor; Keri Kerper, Community Development Program Coordinator; James Sprague, Director of Public Works; Eric Maurouard, Fire Chief; Ryan Reed, Code Enforcement Officer; Kris Shewairy, Youth and Recreation Division Supervisor, and Tiffany Taylor, Managerial Confidential Administrative Secretary. 1. Roll Call Alderman McCall called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and asked that the record show that all committee members were present. 2. Approval of Minutes of the Previous Committee Meeting (Thursday, April 21, 2026) A motion to approve the minutes of the April 21, 2026 committee meeting was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Keary. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. 3. MakeMyMove Presentation Ms. Kerper introduced Scott McCauley of MakeMyMove and explained this is an item she had proposed for the utilization of the bed tax revenue. She explained she has been working with this company since 2023 but we did not previously have a funding source to participate. Mr. McCauley explained MakeMyMove is a national talent attraction program. He explained what they do is work with communities who are looking to add to the population and increase the tax base. He explained in working with Ms. Kerper, he proposes starting with bringing five households into the Olean area. He explained the total investment for the City would be $50,000 and based on conservative modeling, those give five households would generate an approximately $287,000 annual economic impact and $43,000 in State and local tax revenue each year. Mr. McCauley explained of the $50,000 investment, the City would pay $30,000 directly to MakeMyMove, with a $20,000 payment to start the program and the remaining $10,000 being paid after movers begin bringing the new families into the community. He explained invectives are paid out over time with a portion of that tied to retention, and at a full run rate the tax generation alone approaches the entire cost of the program. He explained the MakeMyMove website is where people go to actively explore relocation, and the website shows communities who are offering incentives and opening doors to people to call the community their home. He explained they currently represent communities in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Georgia, and Michigan, and will soon be in Wisconsin and Texas as well. He noted Olean would be the first community in New York. Mr. McCauley explained they build a website for the community that is a page seen by millions of people, including the community, schools, and churches, to show people that it is the type of place they would want to call home. He explained they highlight businesses and places to live, as well as what makes the place such a special place to live. He explained MakeMyMove connects with people to help them make their moving decision as well as works with local businesses for job seekers and realtors to show homes that are available to buy or rent. He explained they are not interested in applicants who will just click on the site, and are interested only in applicants that will apply. He explained when someone applies through the program, they collect financial information, employment information, and family size to ensure they are getting prequalified households. He explained the website is free for anyone to use or visit. Mr. McCauley explained every dollar of impact is tracked, and they are able to see who applies, where they currently live, what their personal income is, what their household head count is, and when they want to move. He explained all of this information comes right to the community to allow the understanding of what the makeup of people is, and at any time they can see the real- time economic output for the program. He explained that is how they arrived at the impact amounts, and explained it is not a guess but is rather modeled and tracked. He explained they have moved seven households and 22 people in the past eight months. He explained they verify incomes by asked for w2’sand paystubs, and explained if someone is bringing income into a community with a remote job, they need a letter from an employer that they will be able to work remotely in the new community. He explained if they are moving to accept a job offer they ask for the offer letter and compensation package. He explained they want to verify the finances of everyone moving so they can confidently tell communities the yield from the investment. Mr. McCauley explained what they offer is not just a marketing app, but rather a system that is designed to generate and track task-based growth. Alderman McCall explained the City would have $20,000 to spread between five households, and explained when looking at the website it seems that incentives for other places are significantly higher. She asked what the average incentive is for households and how it is paid out. Mr. McCauley explained that in Kentucky, Indiana and Kansas, there is a higher amount because there is state support, but these amounts are also not just cash and are the entire incentive package. He explained there are different benefits such as opportunities to meet with the Mayor and elected officials, TMCA memberships, and other soft incentives that can add up to a higher total value. He explained they are moving people because they want a better quality of life, smaller schools, and a lower cost of living, and incentives can allow them to not be strangers and get plugged into the community quicker. He explained they have a 90% retention rate at year three. He explained when a family moves, they receive half of the cash incentive when the move is verified and the other half at month 13. Alderman Crawford asked how many people the company has helped move or relocate across the country. Mr. McCauley explained they just celebrated their fifth year and have been moving people since winter 2022. He explained they have moved over 4,000 people to communities they have partnered with and recently moved their 1000th household. He explained there is now a way to market and attract p4eople to the community, and people have a pioneering spirit and want to move somewhere that makes more sense for them and their family. He explained people are willing to leave bigger cities to come to smaller areas such as Olean. Ms. Kerper explained we can figure out the radius and parameters, such as the base income for a household. She explained we have control over such things and noted she put together a list of things that she wants to go out in the community ro discuss to add to the incentive package for a larger value. She explained she is willing to pound the pavement to add to the inventive plan. Mr. McCauley explained it is a good point that the City can choose their parameters, and added they do background checks and verifications on everyone who applies. Alderman McCall asked Ms. Kerper to explain using bed tax money for this, and explained it is a common misconception that the public has that we can use bed tax funds for potholes and other repairs. Ms. Kerper explained the Council passed a Local Law after support was received from the Senate and passed by New York State, and explained the funds need to be utilized for economic development, community development and tourism. She explained the economic impact from this program makes this an eligible cost as it will bolster the economy and help stabilize the tax base. Alderman Keary asked the cost after the first year, and Ms. Kerper explained she will look into this and report back to the Council. She explained she has been working with the company since 2023 and they are still honoring that price. Alderman Anastasia explained people think the bed tax can also lower property taxes, but it can’t. He asked if we contract with this company and no one moves if we get a reimbursement back. Ms. Kerper explained she would not let this happen and she will do the work to prevent it, but she will ask that question. Alderman McCall explained community members ask the Council what is done to attract new residents, and explained it is not so easy if we don’t have a venue where people are looking to move. Alderman Forney explained one community on the website shows $18,000 incentives but only $5,000 in cash. She explained they include things like yoga memberships and breakfast with the mayor, and these are key things that will help add to the extra value for people coming in. Ms. Kerper explained she has a long list of ideas that can be looked into further, and she would love to go out and see how we can partner and add these benefits.  4. Unfinished Business a. Capital Fund Closings / Reserve Creations Alderman McCall explained with a new Auditor starting, we need to put together restricted funds so we can begin to move money from capital funds that are no longer meant for long-term specific projects. She explained the Council would also like to do this with the bed tax funds. Mr. Martial explained he has handouts prepared for the new Auditor from the Comptroller’s Office on reserve funds, and Alderman McCall explained we should not take any formal action on this until the new Auditor starts. She requested Mr. Martial forward this information to the Council as well. Alderman Bennion asked the Council discuss this again in one month after the new Auditor has time to settle in. Alderman Robinson explained the Council should pay attention to the Capital Fund summary that is provided to them with their monthly financial reports. He explained there is $5.4 million in Capital Funds and a lot can be transferred into reserves. Mr. Martial explained certain funds need to stay in Capital Funds, such as for the Splash Park and Marcus Park. Alderman Bennion asked that the council receive a report of which Capital Funds are tied to current, ongoing capital projects and Mr. Martial explained he can create that. Alderman Robinson explained the Council can use this information to move forward next month. Alderman Crawford explained he recommends that the Mayor and new Auditor work together to make a list of what meets the criteria to be moved and present it to the Council. Ms. Taylor noted there will be resolutions on the next meeting’s agenda to transfer bed tax funds and water and sewer capital outlay funds into capital funds to prevent money from going back into the fund balances on May 31st. b. Firefighter Projects (using a contractor) Chief Maurouard explained there is money left in the various capital funds for projects at the different Fire Department facilities. Alderman Bennion explained they were discussing doing the fencing themselves at Fire Station 1, but seeing what the cost would be to finish the upgrades at Gargoyle with a contractor would be. Chief Maurouard explained the parking lot at Station 1 has been put on hold. Alderman McCall asked what project at Gargoyle we are looking at, and Chief Maurouard explained we do not have the funds in the capital fund to complete a project so we just do what we can, with what we have. Alderman McCall asked what it would take to be where we can train other companies and asked if we could get a proposal put together to see what funding we could get. Chief Maurouard explained he did put together a preliminary wish list and an estimate of what he thought it might cost, and it would be over half a million dollars. He explained he hasn’t moved on that. Alderman Crawford asked what kind of revenue we could generate if we were to update the facility to be used by other fire organizations. Chief Maurouard explained we would see an additional amount of revenue, as any revenue would be offset by additional expenses. Alderman McCall explained as we look at long-term projects and what we might want to accomplish, we should look at ways to obtain funding. Alderman Bennion asked the status of the HVAC at Central Fire, and Chief Maurouard explained it is almost done, and was put on hold while they were doing some other renovations. He explained the heat worked fine over the winter. He noted if there is any money left in the fund he would like to use it towards air conditioning, as they currently have many window units that run non-stop in the summer. c. Alarm Circuits (high phone costs) Mayor Sherburne explained from what she understands, we have identified what lines we can close, and she believes that they have been closed. She asked if this has been reflected in the bills, and Director Sprague explained he does not believe we have received a new bill since the accounts were closed. He explained to his knowledge there is still one plain telephone service line left at the wastewater treatment plant and Mr. Kahm is working on getting the parts and pieces to convert that to a cellular call out. He explained that one will go away then, so we are very close to eliminating them all. Alderman McCall explained we received large, unexpected bills and she is glad this is being taken care of. d. Transfer Funds Dump Box Director Sprague explained the cost for this is $20,000, and he believes we will be very close to having this money in a collection of accounts at the end of the fiscal year, so he will be coming back to the Council in two weeks with specific information for the fund transfer. He explained he would recommend transferring the funds for this before the end of the fiscal year. Alderman McCall asked if this will extend the life of the vehicle, and Director Sprague explained it will get us several more years. He explained even if we order a new truck today, it will be a year and a half before we receive it, so we need something in the meantime. 5. New Referrals for Consideration a. PL #44-26: (Sherburne) To enact a Local Law establishing a permitting process to ensure Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) remediation is conducted safely and that the developer – not taxpayers – bears the cost of municipal oversight and road maintenance. Ms. Kerper explained the Brownfield process started in 2003 and 2004, and at one time the City was leading the way in the Brownfield initiative, although it is done differently now. She explained we worked closely with the DEC and DOS, and completed a prenomination study and nomination study for 904 acres in the Brownfield Opportunity Area, called the “Northwest Quadrant.” She explained the draft law includes the area to be included. She explained there has been a number of parcels which have been cleaned up and redeveloped in the City. He explained Mr. Benson has helped clean a majority of them, along with Mr. John of MJ Painting, but there are other parcels in the City that remain. Mr. Reed explained he was tasked with looking at an operating permit due to fees associated with record retention and road permitting. He explained that is what is in front of the Council and how they arrived at the operating permit and fee. Alderman McCall asked if this is really putting the responsibility back on whoever will be remediating the property. Alderman Crawford explained this is something that the City is looking to enact, and asked how this differs from when the IDA grants sales tax exemptions and mortgage tax abatement and PILOTS. Ms. Kerper explained the IDA holds public hearings for these things, which typically occur in Room 119 of the Olean Municipal Building when the property is located within the City. She explained notice is given to the Mayor’s and Assessor’s offices, and input is asked of them as well as the general public. She explained all information is published online, and she believes Mr. Wicktor from the DIEA and legal representation attend the hearings as well. She explained based on that feedback, it goes back in front of the IDA board for their ultimate review and decision. Alderman Crawford asked if this is something outside of that process. Mr. Reed explained this is restricting fees for the operating permit and road permit, which is not something the IDA is involved in. Alderman Bennion asked what the current operating permit fees are. Mr. Reed explained there is a flat $50 fee across the board, whether it is for Brownfield cleanup, an oxygen holding facility, or fireworks. Alderman McCall asked what this will ultimately accomplish and Alderman Bennion explained this is only for Brownfields. Ms. Kerper explained this is an operating permit that is only for brownfield cleanups. Alderman McCall asked how municipal oversight and road cost get calculated and Ms. Kerper explained it is all described in the draft law. Alderman Bennion explained the law does not talk about overweight vehicles, only those up to 26,000 lbs. Mr. Reed explained there is already language for a permit and fee in the Code for overweight vehicles. Alderman Bennion explained the PL talks about conducting cleanups safely and asked what we are doing as a municipality to ensure this is being done. Mr. Reed explained DPW is watching the roadway and any issues regarding it, while Code Enforcement is doing the records retention. Alderman Robinson explained it we have major trucks traveling on the road, we want to ensure they are responsible for the wear and tear. He explained we should be compensated in some way. He explained when the plant in Franklinville wanted to dump brine in the City, we did not want their large trucks on our road and we wanted them to compensate us for using large trucks in the City. He explained he read through this legislation and thinks it is very straightforward. Mayor Sherburne explained the fees associated will help cover road maintenance and costs incurred in the Code Enforcement office for keeping track of project details. Alderman Bennion explained it is no different than any other semi or dump truck driving on the road, and they do not pay permit fees. Alderman Crawford explained something the Council can consider is expanding the road permit fees to all major building projects and permits. He explained this is an additional opportunity for large-scale projects. Ms. Kerper explained this is a 904 acre possibility, and the Council wanted revenue, so that is what we are trying to do. A motion to approve PL #44-26 was made by Alderman Keary, seconded by Alderman Robinson. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Referred to Regular Meeting Tuesday, May 12, 2026 after public hearing. 6. Committee Reports A motion to approve Committee Reports was made by Alderman Keary, seconded by Alderman Robinson. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. 7. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Alderman McCall, seconded by Alderman Anastasia. Voice vote, ayes all. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at approximately 7:00 p.m.