Elliott Auerbach has resigned from his emergency role as Village Manager. He took on the job for a nominal $1 fee on March 1, and completes this term on October 31, after eight months of assisting the village during a difficult period of fighting off insolvency and keeping services in place for residents.

Mayor Evan Trent offered fulsome thanks to Auerbach and noted that he really didn’t want to accept the letter of resignation and had even considered throwing it away.

Trent won election a year ago, ending a twenty-year run by former mayor Jeff Kaplan. Trent inherited a difficult situation, with the village finances under severe pressure due to several factors, including the non-payment of village taxes by some property owners, and the decline in the overall village assessed value that came with the revaluation in 2016.

Trent discovered that a failure in the application process to the county for inclusion in their collection program for delinquent taxes had added to the budget woes of the village. This process would have made the village “whole” on taxes, as the county then goes after the delinquents. The county has the resources to take people to court for such things, and the village does not. According to Warren at the time, Trent fired him for the application mishap, leaving the village without a manager.

Into that gap stepped Auerbach, who has had many roles in Ellenville. He was more recently Deputy Comptroller at the New York State Comptroller’s Office. Working with the newly hired treasurer and village staff, Auerbach was able to keep the village from insolvency while Trent and the village board crafted the next budget and sought state assistance.

Auerbach connected the village to the county’s program for pursuing municipal tax delinquents. The village is chasing grant money as well, and in addition Auerbach reported on Monday evening the effort to collect past due taxes from years past, which are not covered by the county, is going well. It has been determined that of the $700,000 or so in question, at least $500,000 is collectible. And, of that, 20 percent has been collected so far. This money is from unpaid taxes that piled up over the past four to five years. Of the $200,000 remainder, Auerbach remains hopeful that some may still be collectible once the process gets to grips with things.

“If you haven’t paid your village taxes for this year, you should know that you have until October 31,” Auerbach warned. “After that it will go to the county. The county will add an 8% charge for their collection efforts.”

And before he steps away, Auerbach made a pitch for a change to village rules that would impact the lifestyle of our local bear population. Currently the village allows garbage haulers free rein to find customers and collect their own garbage bins. Auerbach said that in the early morning hours there can be anywhere from four to six trucks working in the village.

Because of this multiplicity of trucks and haulers, many residents have slipped into the habit of leaving their garbage bins out at night. That is an open invitation for the bears to come and rummage in them for breakfast.

Auerbach promoted the village shift to the model employed by New Paltz. There, they put out an RFP, examine what comes in and choose a single purveyor of garbage pick-up service. Auerbach said that this ended up being much cheaper for customers, and more organized, with dedicated pick-ups and much less opportunity for freelancing black bears to score messy treats.

Before he could escape, however, Trent and the board gave him a special plaque inlaid with a key to the village in recognition of his services over the years to the village. A true good neighbor, who told the Shawangunk Journal that “I bleed Ellenville,” on more than one occasion.

Later, Trent said that the village is in the final stages of hiring a new manager. There are big shoes to fill.