FULTON, N.Y. — An audit from the New York State Comptroller reported that $9.9 million was unaccounted for in the City of Fulton’s budget.
It was revealed that the city’s Clerk-Chamberlains did not maintain accurate or up-to-date records. As of May, 2026, city government had not reconciled those accounts since December, 2022.
The City of Fulton’s Common Council is now unsure where the city stands financially.
Common Councilor Mark Sherman described this as “a problem.”
“That’s how money can come up as missing if it’s not accounted for. It’s in the bank. Somebody could pull it out of there, and nobody would notice it’s gone,” Sherman expressed.
The faulty financial records have Councilor Sherman questioning if the Clerk Chamberlains are qualified.
“If we’re gonna pay qualified members money- six figures- they should at least have a document that says, ‘yeah, they earned it,” said Sherman.
Although upwards of ten million dollars are left unaccounted for, Sherman believes this won’t cause taxes to go up for neighbors. Instead, leave that to the budgeting troubles Fulton has not escaped.
“We have heavy, heavy labor costs for the city taxpayer,” he said.
Taxpayers in Fulton are concerned about their already high taxes. One neighbor, Victor Austin, explained that he moved to Fulton from Liverpool, where he was paying much less. He moved around four years ago, when he said taxes in Fulton were around $4,000 a year. Now, Austin said, they’re at $8,000.
“We can’t live the way we’re living,’ said Austin. “We’re struggling.”
Austin also expressed that he has debated on whether or not he should move out of the city.
There will be a city budget meeting in Fulton on Wednesday. In this meeting, there are different agenda items on city maintenance rates. This means that there is some probability your taxes at home could increase.