NEWS FROM THE OFFICE OF

ULSTER COUNTY COMPTROLLER

ELLIOTT AUERBACH
ELLIOTT AUERBACH COUNTY COMPTROLLER 244 FAIR STREET KINGSTON, NEW YORK 12401 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PHONE: 845: 340-3529 eaue@co.ulster,ny.us
www.co.ulster.ny.us/resources/comptroller

EXECS ON THE RIGHT TRACK

COMPTROLLER ENDORSES COUNTY EXECUTIVES RAIL TRAIL PROPOSAL
KINGSTON, NY (June 10, 2013). Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach says that County Executive Mike Heins proposed Catskill Mountain Rail Trail (CMRT) proposal is a well-researched and sound fiscal decision for County taxpayers. The County Executives Office approached this issue as any taxpayer would hope they would: they researched the public benefit and fiscal realities of all sides of the issue, and then balanced those interests to arrive at a policy which served both.

Heins proposal, made in connection with his 2013 Budget last October, called for a multi-use recreational trail running along the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad Corridor from Kingston to the Ashokan Reservoir, and potentially westward further into the Catskills. The proposal met with some controversy because the private entity, the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR), has a lease on the corridor until 2016 and had proposed a side-by-side concept, which would have kept alive their goal of restoring rail service throughout the lines entire length. The history of the lease arrangement, as well as the weight of the facts however, supports the Countys pursuit of a different direction for the important asset, according to Auerbach. The original intent of the Countys purchase of the railway was for it to act as a revenue driver. The lease to CMRR was meant to put the redevelopment of the railway in the hands of a private entity which would obtain funding and act as the catalyst for creating that revenue. Simply put, there has not been substantial progress on the redevelopment, and the revenue generated which drives the lease payment to the County has underperformed. Auerbach observes, the prospects for improvement in either category are extremely remote in the present funding climate. According to the County Planning Department, the County has been paid about $38,000 since the inception of the lease, weighed against a taxpayer investment in the property of about $5 million. And, Auerbach adds, the fact that the railway isnt fully functional actually limits the public enjoyment of the property, whereas the Executives proposal will open that segment of the railway to significantly greater numbers of people from the region and the world, and significantly more likely to generate revenue for the County. CMRRs proposal has conceptual appeal, says Auerbach, but it would still require a level of funding and performance on the rail redevelopment which hasnt been realized in 30 years. The railway can remain active along substantial stretch of original pathway within Ulster County. It is our belief that the historic railroad presence and public access to a unique rail trail experience will best serve the Ulster County economy. Thats a win-win. ###
The mission of the Ulster County Comptrollers Office is to serve as an independent agency of the people and to protect the public interest by monitoring County government and to assess and report on the degree to which its operation is economical, efficient and its financial condition sound.