FALLSBURG — Long- standing friction within the Fallsburg Town Board erupted at the May 20 meeting, as a discussion on travel reimbursements ignited a heated exchange between Fallsburg Councilmember Sean Wall-Carty and Supervisor Michael Bensimon. What started as a simple question about paperwork quickly turned into accusations of dishonesty and misuse of taxpayer money.

The meeting had mostly followed routine matters until Wall-Carty, near its conclusion, asked, “What is the proper procedure for submitting travel reimbursement forms for the Association of Towns meeting?” 

The meeting in question took place in February 2025, and Wall-Carty said he submitted all his paperwork and supporting documentation—including bank statements and Amtrak details—for a train ride into the city.

But according to Wall-Carty, the response from the Supervisor’s office was less than clear. 

“I didn’t get an answer until late March,” he said during the town board meeting. “Then it was, ‘You don’t have all the receipts.’ I showed my bank statements, got the restaurant receipts, even Amtrak refunded me because they changed my train to a cheaper one. Still, I got nickel and dimed.”

He said it wasn’t until May that his reimbursement check was received and did not include the cost of his travel via Amtrak.

That frustration boiled over when Wall-Carty pivoted to a separate issue involving Supervisor Bensimon. 

Wall-Carty claimed that during last year’s Association of Towns meeting, Bensimon used a town car to go to Brooklyn—not the meeting itself. 

“You’re grilling me over receipts when you weren’t even at the meeting?” he said.

The Association of Towns meeting is an annual conference held in New York City that provides training, workshops, and policy briefings for town officials across the state. 

Supervisor Bensimon insists he attended last year’s Association of Towns meeting and submitted two photos to the Democrat to support his claim. 

Although the metadata confirmed the images were captured at the location of the meeting, New York Marriott Marquis, the Democrat could not independently verify that Bensimon’s phone was the device used to take them at the time of publication. 

Bensimon acknowledged he did not stay for the full session and pointed to a photo he took showing New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli speaking, timestamped February 19 at 9:39 a.m

The Democrat confirmed DiNapoli was scheduled to speak that morning, according to the 2024 Association of Towns agenda.

Bensimon said that after taking the photo at the meeting, he left to renew his Auxiliary NYPD ID. He provided a photo of the ID showing a renewal date of February 20, 2026. According to Bensimon, Auxiliary IDs are renewed every two years, meaning it would have last been renewed on February 20, 2024.

A FOIL request revealed that the Fallsburg town car he used passed through the Queens Midtown Tunnel on February 20, 2024—first at 9:56 a.m. and again at 11:18 a.m. While Bensimon claimed he left the meeting that day to complete the renewal, the photo he submitted to show his attendance was timestamped a day earlier, on February 19.

The Democrat filed a FOIL request with the NYPD to verify whether Bensimon’s Auxiliary ID was renewed on the date and to confirm if renewals can be processed at the Queens Auxiliary Police station. As of publication time, the NYPD had not responded.

The total EZ-Pass bill for Bensimon’s time in New York City was $75.27. With $10.60 in late fees, the final amount came to $85.87.

“I brought my EZ Pass, but for some reason, it didn’t register,” Bensimon told the Democrat, adding that he personally paid the amount and a receipt confirms the payment came from Bensimon’s personal bank account.

Wall-Carty also questioned Bensimon’s filing of a Record of Activities (ROA) from last year, a form required by the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) to log the work hours of elected and appointed officials who do not work on a fixed schedule.

Bensimon told the Democrat he attempted to amend the ROA after it was already approved because he “wanted to be honest about what was recorded.” 

On his original ROA, Bensimon reported attending the Association of Towns meeting for the entire day on February 20—the same day he later said he left early to renew his Auxiliary NYPD ID. 

Bensimon explained that the Fallsburg ROA does not affect his pension, as his retirement benefits are administered through Sullivan County, where he works as an auditor. “But for other supervisors, it might matter more.”

The ROA helps determine how much service credit an official earns toward their pension. Officials must submit a detailed log of their activities over a set period, and inaccuracies can impact how pension benefits are calculated or verified.

Bensimon said his push for more detailed reimbursement documentation is about protecting the town during audits. “If an audit comes down and the records aren’t clear, that’s a problem,” he said.

As it turns out, the Town of Fallsburg is currently under audit by the Office of the New York State Comptroller, according to spokesperson Mark Johnson. Bensimon added, “I wasn’t trying to target Sean—I’m trying to fix a broken process.”

The Democrat reviewed documentation submitted by Wall-Carty to the town, including bank statements confirming charges for Amtrak tickets.

Fallsburg Councilmember Miranda Behan also voiced frustration during the meeting, she said that she had not known she was required to submit travel reimbursement forms until recently, saying, “I didn’t even know I was supposed to hand in something for the conference. No one told me.”

Bensimon stated that he reduced Behan’s mileage reimbursement because she did not submit detailed receipts, as required under the town’s reimbursement policy.

According to the Fallsburg Employee Handbook, employees are eligible for reimbursement of meals, mileage, and lodging while conducting official town business—if the town hasn’t arranged accommodations.

All claims must include itemized receipts and be submitted within 30 days. The handbook specifies that requests without itemized receipts may be denied by the department head, which in this case was Bensimon.

But Wall-Carty characterized the whole ordeal as symptomatic of broader dysfunction within the board. “This isn’t just about my $40 meal,” he said. “This has been building for a long time....you [Bensimon] do not communicate.”

Bensimon told the Democrat that further discussions will be held about formalizing clearer rules for reimbursement and reporting.