Fees paid with interest in February 2026 

Town of Schuyler Falls – Host Fee Payments (2026M-26)

 

Issued Date
June 18, 2026

[read complete report – pdf]

Audit Objective

Did the Town of Schuyler Falls (Town) receive accurate host fee payments?

Audit Period

April 1, 2016 – February 17, 2026

Understanding the Audit Area

Landfill host fee payments are intended to compensate municipalities for having landfills located within their borders, making it important that town officials ensure these fees are accurately calculated and paid. Accurate calculations and payments strengthen accountability by ensuring landfill operators comply with contractual agreements, while providing town officials and taxpayers with confidence that revenues are properly received so they can be used for their intended public purpose and potentially reduce the financial burden on town taxpayers.

The Clinton County (County) Landfill (landfill) is located in the Town and is operated by a waste management company (corporation). As of January 31, 2026, the Town received host fee payments from the corporation totaling approximately $4.3 million for waste received at the landfill during the period of April 1, 2016, through December 31, 2025.

Audit Summary

The Town did not receive accurate host fee payments. As a result, the Town did not have access to funds that could have been used for its operations or to potentially reduce the financial burden on Town taxpayers.

We reviewed all 39 quarterly host fee payments totaling approximately $4.3 million that were received by the Town as of January 31, 2026, for waste received at the landfill during the period of April 1, 2016, through December 31, 2025, and determined that 35 of the 39 payments (90 percent) were inaccurate and had calculation errors totaling $464,122. This occurred because the corporation did not accurately calculate payments in accordance with the terms of the host agreements. As a result, as of January 31, 2026, the Town had not received $329,588 in host fees that it was entitled to.

Because officials did not establish adequate procedures to review the host fee payments, they were unaware that the corporation had not paid all host fees owed to the Town until we notified them in January 2026. Officials contacted the corporation to discuss the accuracy of the host fee payments previously made to the Town. The corporation subsequently agreed to pay the Town the outstanding host fees and interest. On February 17, 2026, the Town received a payment from the corporation totaling $370,651, consisting of $329,588 for the outstanding host fees and $41,063 for interest.

The report includes one recommendation that, if implemented, will improve the Town’s oversight of host fee payments. Town officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.

We conducted this audit pursuant to Article V, Section 1 of the State Constitution and the State Comptroller’s authority as set forth in Article 3 of the New York State General Municipal Law (GML). Our methodology and standards are included in Appendix C.

The Town Board (Board) has the responsibility to initiate corrective action. A written corrective action plan (CAP) that addresses the findings and recommendations in this report should be prepared and provided to our office within 90 days, pursuant to Section 35 of GML. For more information on preparing and filing your CAP, please refer to our brochure, Responding to an OSC Audit Report, which you received with the draft audit report. We encourage the Board to make the CAP available for public review in the Town Clerk’s office.