WARREN Tax coffers cause stir

Council's finance committee will seek answers Tuesday.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Waning income tax collections have city officials scrambling for an explanation.
And even though voters in May approved a 0.5 percent income tax increase, Mayor Hank Angelo said, it's likely fewer police officers and firefighters will be hired than originally thought. When compared with September of last year, income tax collections at the end of last month were $176,000 ahead.
But the city should be ahead by $500,000 to $600,000 because of the additional tax money the treasurer's office should be collecting, Angelo said.
The mayor met with other city officials, including Auditor David Griffing, Tuesday to go over figures and discuss what should be done next.
City council's finance committee will seek an explanation from city Treasurer Patricia Leon-Games during a meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
"We have no idea how she collects [taxes] over there," Angelo said.
He added that council chose not to go along with his recommendation to bring on a tax administrator early to learn the job and help out with collections.
The city created the position to handle collections after deciding to make the treasurer's post part time to handle investments only. Leon-Games will be replaced by John Taylor in January. Changes were initiated after a state performance audit criticized the treasurer's office for not being aggressive enough with collections.
When reached at home Tuesday evening, Leon-Games said the administration is using her as a scapegoat, pinning a lack of collections on her department.
She attributes decreased collections to the economy, the loss of population and jobs in the area, and the closing of CSC Ltd. in Champion, which generated about $150,000 in income tax each year for the city.
Leon-Games said she believes the city will realize a larger increase after Sept. 30, the end of the third quarter.
The treasurer says she's waiting to see what the FBI turns up in its investigation of city construction contracts and other matters. A possible misuse of money could shine some light on Warren's dim financial picture, she said.
"Until this whole administration changes, this city will continue to go down further," she said. "They have to stop their spending and do only what's essential."
Expectations: Because of the approval of additional tax money, Angelo said, the city expected at least a 33 percent spike in collections when comparing August 2000 with August 2001.
Instead, collections at the end of August were down $224,000 from the August before, he explained.
City officials say conservative spending will continue.
Angelo said the city wants to keep its promise to return police and fire staffing to 1999 levels but won't be able to do that if the city slips back into the red.
The city laid off personnel and made other cuts in 2000 to head off budget woes. Employees were called back after voters approved the additional tax to boost police and fire staffs.
davis@vindy.com