For the past 10 years, the city of Buffalo has received $1 per year for rent from the operator of the Erie Basin Marina, plus monthly payments for utilities and annual payments for use of a weedwhacker.
But the administration is still waiting for audited financial statements from operator Smith Boys that show how much revenue Smith Boys earned and whether the city is owed a percentage of the net profits for each year of its contract.Â
The Department of Public Works has reviewed some financial information provided by the company, Commissioner Nathan Marton told The Buffalo News, but not the required audited financials.
The financial statements from Smith Boys are expected to be submitted to DPW early this week, he said.Â
“That is something we need to make sure that we’re getting,” he said during a recent Common Council meeting. “I think historically there has been … meetings on-site, but that formal documentation coming through is something that, I think, just over time, has just maybe gone to the side a little bit.”
Smith Boys General Manager James Marinello acknowledged during the Council meeting that the audited financial statements were not filed over the course of the past 10 years. Nobody from the city asked for them.
“There was never a request. I know it’s in the contract in regards an audited report, and it does say at vendor’s responsibility up to a maximum of $10,000 cost,” Marinello said. “It was never requested. I didn’t think that it had to just be offered. I assumed that if they wanted those audited financials, that’s fine. As soon as this (city comptroller) report came out, I contacted our external accountants, CPAs… They’re working on that currently.”
Smith Boys was selected in 2013 to operate the city-owned marina under a five-year contract, with a five-year extension. Operations include 350 boat slips, a gas dock, a ship store and a boat launch.
DPW has entered into a one-year extension…
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