Todd Shimkus, the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, recently met with the Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Safety to demand that he waive payment for the invoices the Chamber had received for services performed by the Fire Department for special events the Chamber had held in the city. The meeting did not go well.
According to the Chamber’s federal 990 form, Shimkus’ compensation for being the Chamber president is:
- Base salary (recent filings): about $198,000–$205,000 per year
- Additional compensation/benefits: roughly $29,000–$35,000
👉 That puts his total annual compensation typically in the ~$225,000–$240,000 range in recent years.
At the risk of appearing snarky, this blogger has observed that Mr. Shimkus’s salary does not begin to match his ego or the imperious, toxic way he often deals with people..
Commissioner Coll brought Shimkus’s demand for a fee waiver to the City Council for a discussion and vote. The Council voted unanimously not to waive the fees, and was also clearly disturbed about how extensive these apparent waivers were in the city.
Commissioner of Public Works BK Keramati said there was an established practice in his department of providing services for the Chamber that cost his department money but not charging them for it. He found it difficult to say no.
Accounts Commissioner Jess Troisi pointed out that it was the taxpayer who ended up paying for the expenses of putting on special events when fees were waived whether they supported the event or not.
Commissioner of Finance JoAnne Kiernan explained to her colleagues that the city’s written procedures are clear. Only the Council has the authority to waive special event fees. Any Commissioner waiving fees without Council consent would have acted improperly.
Commissioner Coll said it had come to his attention that special events fees had been waived arbitrarily in the Accounts department under the previous administration and asked if the Finance Department could do an audit to determine the extent of this practice.
The Council then supported Kiernan’s offer to audit the Accounts Department.
An Unhealthy Relationship?
Todd Shimkus enjoyed a close working relationship with Dillon Moran. This blogger would speculate that through Moran, Shimkus exerted considerable influence over city practices.
In fact, Moran was Shimkus’s recent appointment to the planning committee for the upcoming Belmont Stakes.
Saratoga Springs Politics 
No one in City government should be waiving fees for the Chamber of Commerce or any other entity without having such official actions being approved by the full City Council. I would suggest that, with rare exceptions, the Council not approve fee waivers.
Chris Mathiesen
LikeLike
Shimkus is clearly a Dillon Moran fan. He was seen at Moran campaign fundraisers and was a generous contributor. And why not if Moran was repeatedly doing him the favor of saving the Chamber money by waiving city fees while passing the cost of Chamber events along to we taxpayers. How many other groups did Moran do favors for at taxpayers’ expense?
LikeLike