Supermarket Owes City $17,000 in Garbage Sticker Sales

by Timothy W. Scee II
Special to Newzjunky.com
Published February 22, 2012

WATERTOWN, N.Y.  —  A local grocery store is attempting to pay off four months of debt accrued through the sale of garbage stickers to city residents, according to the city manager.

During a report of the city’s financial statements at the Watertown City Council meeting Tuesday, Laurie J. Podvin, partner of Poulsen & Podvin CPA, Watertown, said Great American Food Store, 672 State St., owes the city $17,000. 

“They’ve been cut off,” City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said. “They were a longstanding customer that ran into some financial difficulty and are trying to make payment.”

City Comptroller James E. Mills said Great American is among the list of “major customers” that purchase garbage stickers including Walgreens, Kinney Drugs and Price Chopper.

Stores buy the stickers for $2.45 each and sell them for $2.50, yielding a 5-cent profit, according to the comptroller. 

“They got four months behind on invoices or about $4,000 a month in stickers,” Mr. Mills said. “Previously we were billing the stores monthly, cutting them off 90 days after unpaid bills.”

Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham said businesses in financial difficulty should keep an eye on the quantity of stickers purchased from the city. 

“I don’t think people should be able to charge for this,” he said. “Those who are having cash flow issues would be better off to just buy small quantities, sell them, and get some more because it’s all right here in the city.”

Ms. Podvin said the city should review its current policies to smooth the process of obtaining revenue of future refuse stamp sales by local stores.



“There’s a lot of options you can look at,” she said. “You can require a deposit so now at their weekly billing, you’re going to know pretty quick if they can’t (pay).”

While Mr. Graham said he doesn’t expect the store to have trouble paying off its debt, City Attorney Robert J. Slye said the city could sue the store if payments aren’t made in a timely manner to the city comptroller’s office. 

In other business, the City Council approved its policy for alcohol sales at city-owned facilities with support from Mr. Graham and Councilwomen Roxanne M. Burns and Teresa R. Macaluso. Both Councilmen Jeffrey M. Smith and Joseph M. Butler Jr. were absent from the meeting because of family vacations.

Under the new policy, the Watertown Wizards baseball team must obtain a seasonal license to sell alcohol at its games instead of its past practice of obtaining individual permits from the state’s Liquor Authority for each event. 

The city hired former state Liquor Authority CEO Anthony J. Casale, of Cooperstown, to help form the new policy.

“I’m just glad we did get this finished,” Mr. Graham said before council members approved the resolution. “I think (Mr. Casale) added in terms of the legitimacy.”

Under new business, Mr. Graham said the city should consider installing ATM machines at City Hall and at the Fairgrounds Municipal Arena’s concession stand to aid plans for more convenience and “automation” for payments to the city.

“It’s kind of zero-cost, zero-maintenance and you do receive some revenue from it,” he said. “You can always change at a later date or always decide to acquire the equipment and sell it at a later date if the city thinks that’s advantageous but it’s a fairly easy thing to get into.” 

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