To the Editor:

Derek Van House is by far the best choice for St. Lawrence County Treasurer.

The County Treasurer is the most important election in our county this year. This person will be responsible for overseeing a budget of more than $230,000,000. No business of that size would choose their main financial officer based on politics, and neither should we. The letters “CPA” are far more important for a treasurer than the letters “R” or “D”, and in this election only Derek Van House is an experienced CPA.

Our county’s financial problems have been my primary concern for the past two years as a county legislator. We’re one of the most fiscally distressed counties in the state, repeatedly borrowing millions of dollars just to pay expenses and maintaining an irresponsibly low fund balance.

Trying to fix our financial problems requires timely and accurate financial information. Unfortunately, roughly every few months we get a report from the treasurer’s office of yet another accounting error, and these errors often involve half a million dollars or more.

Most recently, auditors discovered multiple county checking accounts that had not been reconciled correctly in years. This is the equivalent of not balancing your checkbook, and it is inexcusable. Because the county does not currently have a qualified financial expert on staff, we’ve had to contract with an outside CPA firm to fix the problem. Again, this is inexcusable.

Please, regardless of your party affiliation, hire a CPA for County Treasurer this November. Vote for Derek Van House.

Joe Timmerman

St. Lawrence County Legislator, District 10