Morning News Brief

According to a State Comptroller’s Audit of the Albion Central School District they have been asking for way too much in taxes.  How much, over 17 million dollars from 2017-2021 apparently was not needed.  Albion asked for 24 million.  The comptroller’s office found that they overestimated their budget and did not properly use their retirement contribution reserve nor could the district explain how the finance committee was involved in the budgeting process.  On Monday night, at the district’s first board meeting since the audit, the school board voted to pass a corrective action plan that will be submitted to the comptroller’s office. The board did not discuss details of the plan.  As for what happens with that 17 million in excess property taxes, that’s unclear because no one from the district would comment at the board meeting Monday night.

The Batavia Police Department has released their numbers for 2021.  All told, the police responded to 1,115 domestic calls, 658 mental health calls, 805 thefts, and 868 disturbances.  There was one murder investigation, 13 rape investigations, 11 robbery investigations, 49 aggravated assaults, 61 burglaries, 12 kidnappings, and 41 DWI.  Patrols conducted 2,526 traffic stops and issued 1,490 traffic tickets.  The police participated in de-escalation training and implicit bias training, and an officer wellness program was available.  For a complete look at the numbers check out our news partner the Batavian. 

A man traveling through Mt Morris was stopped for speeding and police found something more than a ticket worthy offence.  36 year old Ottawa, Ontario resident Badri Ahmed-Mohamed was found to be transporting 58 handguns in his trunk.  He was arrested and is being held in Livingston County Jail on a felony weapons charge.  The officer who made the arrest was sworn in just 15 days ago and says that when he approached Mohamed for the speeding stop the driver was shaking and acting very suspicious and said there was something illegal in the car.  That’s when the officer asked to be able to search the car and found the weapons.

For nine years the Batavia City council has gone without a pay raise as inflation and costs of living have steadily increased.  And for the 2022-23 budget year they have decided to add a little more in for themselves.  Effective April 1st the new annual salary for a city council member is 5,000 dollars.  A bump of 43 percent from the 3,500 they were getting.  City Council President will get 7,000 which is the same percentage up from the 4,900 it was previously.  The council stressed during their meeting that this will not raise any taxes and the tax rate remained the same with or without the pay raise.  In total it increased the budget by 14,100 dollars.

The City Yard Waste Station on Law Street in Batavia will be opening Monday April 11th for City residents.  It will be open 12-6 Monday through Saturday till November when the hours shift to 11-5.  City residents may bring yard waste material which is grass, leaves and tree limbs to the Law Street Yard Waste Station as there is no spring curb-side pickup of these materials. Stumps, rocks, fill, and building materials are not accepted.