YOUNGSTOWN Budget surplus plan worries finance chief

Such a thin margin also would rile state auditors, banks and bond agencies.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In one swoop, the cushion would be gone.
Some council members are proposing to use an $875,000 projected budget surplus to pay for housing and school demolition plus create discretionary funds for each city ward.
That would whittle the 2001 general fund surplus to under $10,000.
If that happens, Finance Director Barbara Burtner will cut council off. She has told council members she won't certify any appropriations from the general fund the rest of the year.
There were plans to fund demolition later this year. There even was thought given to spreading some money to each ward, letting the council member decide how to spend it, Burtner said.
Was surprised: "But I had no idea it would be that huge of an amount," Burtner said Tuesday. "I was surprised."
She would be comfortable with a $600,000 to $700,000 surplus.
Council passed a $69 million budget for 2001 on March 28. The $36.6 million general fund contained the projected $875,000 surplus.
Council members agreed beforehand to consider the housing demolition budget later since no money was allocated. Costs are up and revenues are projected to slow down, so the budget is tight, Burtner said.
The day after council passed the budget, buildings and grounds committee members Michael Rapovy, D-5th, and Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, requested two pieces of legislation.
One was to transfer $315,000 from the city's general fund to a "council discretionary fund." The seven council members each would get $45,000 for their wards.
The other was to transfer $400,000 from the general fund for housing demolition and $150,000 more for leveling old schools.
The requests total $865,000, leaving the 2001 surplus at $9,700.
Neither Rapovy nor Hudson could be reached to comment. Council canceled a scheduled finance committee meeting Tuesday and reset it for today.
Emergencies: Such a thin margin would leave virtually no way to fund any unplanned or emergency spending without cutting another department's budget, Burtner said.
Department budgets likely will face cuts anyway if income or inheritance tax revenues don't meet estimates, which is possible, she said.
Also, state auditors, banks and bond-rating agencies will view the city negatively if council leaves such little cushion, Burtner said. An inadequate surplus will increase the interest rates and insurance costs the city pays.
"That is one of the first things they ask," she said. "I'd like it to improve. I don't want it to get worse on my watch."