The Webster Town Supervisor is the chief executive and chief fiscal officer of the Town of Webster in Monroe County, New York. The position is full-time, elected to a two-year term, and carried a salary of $117,603 under the 2024 adopted budget.1Town of Webster, New York. 2024 Adopted Budget The supervisor runs the town’s finances, presides over the five-member town board, and holds the authority to declare a local state of emergency.
Financial and Treasurer Duties
The supervisor doubles as the town treasurer. That means collecting, holding, and disbursing all town funds, and keeping complete records in the accounting format prescribed by the State Comptroller. The same treasurer role extends to the town’s special districts.2New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Powers and Duties of Supervisor
Payments go out only by check, written to the specific person or entity owed. The board can require the town clerk to countersign, and it can also authorize the supervisor’s signature to be applied by a mechanical device. Some payments move without waiting on board approval each time: regular employee salaries, debt service on bonds, and amounts owed under long-term contracts.2New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Powers and Duties of Supervisor
Each year the supervisor prepares the tentative budget that becomes the starting point for the board’s deliberations.3New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Duties of Supervisor (Budget)2New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Powers and Duties of Supervisor4New York State Senate. New York Code GMU – Reports
Role on the Town Board
The Webster Town Board has five members: the supervisor and four council members. The supervisor presides at meetings but has one vote out of five and no veto. Every resolution, motion, and local law passes by majority vote of the full board. If the supervisor is absent, the remaining members choose one of their own to chair the meeting. The supervisor can appoint committees of board members to work on specific issues between meetings.5New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Presiding Officer and Rules of Procedure
Hiring works the same way. The board, not the supervisor alone, appoints non-elective officers and employees.6New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Town Officers The elected positions in town government are the supervisor, town clerk, council members, highway superintendent, and town justices; everyone else answers to the board as a body. In practice, the supervisor coordinates day-to-day operations across departments like Highway, Recreation, and Parks, translating board policy into operational direction for department heads.
Emergency Powers
When a disaster, civil unrest, or other public emergency threatens the town, the supervisor can declare a local state of emergency under New York Executive Law. A declaration lasts up to 30 days and can be renewed in 30-day increments or rescinded earlier.7New York State Senate. New York Code EXC – Local State of Emergency
During a declared emergency, the supervisor can issue orders that would normally fall outside a town executive’s reach:
- Controlling pedestrian and vehicle traffic, including curfews and closing off specific areas
- Shutting down places of public assembly or amusement
- Limiting the sale, transport, or use of alcohol, firearms, explosives, or flammable materials
- Establishing emergency shelters and medical facilities
- Suspending local laws that would interfere with emergency response, in five-day renewable periods
Each emergency order expires after five days unless renewed. Copies of all proclamations and orders must be filed with the town clerk, county clerk, Secretary of State, and the state emergency management office within 72 hours. Knowingly violating a local emergency order is a Class B misdemeanor.7New York State Senate. New York Code EXC – Local State of Emergency
Who Can Run, and for How Long
To run for supervisor, a candidate must be a registered voter in the Town of Webster at the time of election and throughout the term. Town Law calls this being an “elector of the town.”8New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Eligibility of Town Officers New York’s Public Officers Law adds baseline qualifications for any civil office: at least 18 years old, a United States citizen, and a resident of the jurisdiction served.9New York State Senate. New York Code PBO – Qualifications for Holding Office County treasurers and school district trustees are specifically barred from serving as supervisor.
The term is two years, which is shorter than the four-year term served by town board members.10Town of Webster, New York. Town Board Candidates file nominating petitions with the Monroe County Board of Elections carrying signatures from a specified number of registered voters, and the filing deadlines are strict.
Compensation is set by the town board during budget deliberations. Any increase generally cannot take effect during the current officeholder’s term.
The Deputy Supervisor and Mid-Term Vacancies
The town board can establish the office of deputy supervisor. Once it exists, the supervisor appoints someone to fill it; if the supervisor doesn’t act within five days, the appointment falls to the board. The deputy covers any absence, inability to act, or vacancy, exercising all the supervisor’s powers: presiding at meetings, signing checks, running operations. The deputy does not get an independent vote on the town board and cannot sit on the county board of supervisors. Anyone qualified to hold elective town office can be appointed, including a current town employee, and the deputy must take the constitutional oath of office before performing any official function.11New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Deputy Supervisor
If the supervisor’s seat becomes vacant mid-term from resignation, removal, or any other cause, the town board (or a majority of its members) appoints a replacement. That appointee serves until the start of the calendar year following the next election at which the vacancy can be filled, not through the end of the original term.12New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Powers and Duties of Town Board A sitting board member can take the appointment, but only after resigning from the board first. Between the vacancy and the appointment, the deputy serves with full authority and continues until a successor is named.11New York State Senate. New York Code TWN – Deputy Supervisor