At a time when the city is facing severe financial challenges, a recent audit has revealed that former Saratoga Springs Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran arbitrarily and illegally waived $54,000 in special events fees owed to the city.
The city hosts around 80 special events each year. Many of these events require the support of the Department of Public Safety and/or the Department of Public Works for road closures, emergency medical services, traffic control, etc.
In 2022, Commissioner Dillon Moran received approval from the City Council to consolidate the bills generated by city departments assisting local organizations’ special events (Chowderfest, 5K Run, etc.). In the past, each department had billed organizations directly. No one at the time had any idea how far Moran would go in improperly exploiting this opportunity to elevate himself as the czar of special events.
Many of us had heard that Moran was routinely violating city regulations by discounting or waiving the fees required by the city for work to facilitate special events. Now, an audit has revealed the extent of his largess with public money.
The city policy could not be clearer.
“There shall be no donation of City goods or services unless previously approved by the City Council (JK:emphasis added). All goods and services shall be charged according the the fees approved by the City Council.”
-Finance Policy and Procedure Manual – Section XIII: Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
So any deviation from paying for work done by the city required special resolutions by the Council approving the change. As the spreadsheet documents below, Moran, without any authority and hidden from the general public, routinely bypassed the Council and waived or discounted the bills to organizations favored by him.
He Just Made Stuff Up
There are no records of how Moran arrived at his policy or how he determined the size of the discounts he gave out. He assumed rather royal authority.
As part of the audit, there are spreadsheets below listing all the special events, the cost to the city for these events, and how much Moran discounted or waived charges.
In the spreadsheet for the year 2022 below, under notes for events, the only explanation for waivers was occasionally the euphemism “economic development adjustment.” There is nothing in the city’s policies and procedures about an “economic development adjustment.” Moran just created this fig leaf to create the appearance that there was some sort of reason for his beneficence.
At the April 18, 2023, Council meeting, Commissioner Moran advised the Council that he had learned from the New York State Conference of Mayors, the New York State Attorney General’s office, and the New York State Comptroller that Police Departments cannot charge for police time. It was unclear at the time whether the civilians (non-police) employed by the city to handle traffic management and code enforcement would be included in these opinions.
Regrettably, Moran made no effort to memorialize this discovery in the city’s Policy and Procedures Manual, nor did he explore the issue of charging for the services of civilians working in the Public Safety Department. Revisiting these policies would have prompted a thorough review of his practices, which he probably wanted to avoid.
Commissioner Kiernan’s Rigorous Methodology
This audit was prepared by the Finance Department. Its thoroughness and prudence reflect the impressive talents of Finance Commissioner JoAnne Kiernan.
To be especially careful in determining how much Moran gave away, she excluded all Police and non-Police traffic related costs incurred after April 18, 2023.
I would add that while Moran has made much of the police exception to defend his discounts, he has scrupulously avoided the obvious impropriety involved in waiving Department of Public Works fees. Unlike for police, there is nothing in state law that precludes paying the kind of bills submitted by the Department of Public Works.
Taking Care of His Friends
The greatest beneficiary of Moran’s generosity was Todd Shimkus and the Chamber of Commerce events.
Todd Shimkus is the President of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce. According to the Chamber’s 990 form, Shimkus makes $240,000.00. Shimkus was a generous donor to Moran and attended his fundraising events.
As an example of Moran’s generosity to his friend Shimkus, look at the spreadsheet for the celebration “Belmont on Broadway,” an event put on by the Chamber in 2022 (before the revelation of police exclusion). The Department of Public Safety billed $11,333.00 for the event. Shimkus’ organization was billed only $4,725.00. The note on the event reads cryptically, “$3,120 traffic; $525.00 code; $7,688.00 FD (JK: Fire Department).” The city had to “eat” the other $6,608.00. What these notes mean is anyone’s guess.
Blaming The Messenger
After four years of improper discounts and waivers, Finance Commissioner Kiernan and Accounts Commissioner Jessica Troisi have had the unenviable problem of dealing with the outrage of the individuals and organizations who were the beneficiaries of Moran’s “generosity” who now have to pay the real costs to the city.
Moran, Kim, Golub, and Sanghvi’s profligate spending during their tenures has created a major financial crisis for the city. Commissioner Kiernan has been burdened with trying to untangle the mess that has been used to hide this train wreck. This city is so lucky to have someone of Kiernan’s skills and dedication as its Commissioner of Finance. To offer some sense of the chaos Kiernan inherited, consider that the city’s outside auditor has been unable to audit our books for 2025 because the record-keeping was not properly maintained under former Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi. As a measure of the breakdown in finance under Sanghvi, it is the end of July, and the outside auditor has still been unable to audit the 2025 books.
Kiernan inherited a budget for 2026 (Sanghvi’s budget for this year) which wildly underestimated expenses and wildly inflated expected income. The full scope of the looming crisis will only be determined once Kiernan has been able to properly balance Sanghvi’s accounts and address the many errors in record keeping.
Dealing With The Anger
Commissioner Kiernan and Commissioner of Accounts Jessica Troisi have been the targets of anger as organizations are outraged at the bills that now reflect the true cost of providing support services for special events.
We are very lucky to have Kiernan and Troisi as our Commissioners, and I hope that people will come to appreciate what they are doing to straighten out the mess they inherited.
Civility vs Accountability
This city has suffered from several years of the worst partisan behavior at the Council table. A number of Council members in previous administrations attacked their colleagues at every opportunity in the most toxic and ugly manner, often over actions that never existed.
In contrast, the current Council has placed a premium on comity. In the past, the worst violators of decorum seemed more interested in scoring political points than in properly managing the city. The difference in the civil behavior at the Council table now is striking and welcome.
What Dillon Moran did regarding the fee waiver was a clear abuse of his authority. The city’s code makes crystal clear that the Council as a body determines what groups planning special events should pay, not the Commissioner of Accounts.
I believe that a violation of trust as extensive as Moran’s in this matter needs some kind of disciplinary action. The idea that a public official should give away city resources at their personal whim to ingratiate themselves with certain groups and individuals deserves some kind of disciplinary action, especially in light of the other dubious activities that have plagued the Department of Accounts under the former Commissioner.
To their credit, most of the members of the Council are reluctant to censure Moran. He is no longer in a position of authority. Such an action could be interpreted as mean-spirited and a return to the bad old days.
I sympathize with their concerns, but to simply ignore such an extreme violation of public trust only empowers more such behavior in the future. I encourage the Council to find an appropriate action to assure the public that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated
The Special Events Audit
Saratoga Springs Politics 