Thursday, December 18, 2008
The mayor questioned why some council members don’t spend time with city finance officials to better understand the budget.
YOUNGSTOWN — City council won’t approve budgets until Dec. 30 to reconcile the city’s expenditures and revenue for this year, and to allocate money for the first three months of next year.
If council doesn’t get the proper answers from the city administration about the budgets, its members could keep the discussion going “until the next morning to get it done,” said Councilwoman Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th, chairwoman of the legislative body’s finance committee.
“I don’t think we will be here till the next morning, but we’ll be prepared with questions, and the city administration will provide answers,” she added.
Council must vote to reconcile the 2008 budget before Dec. 31.
If council doesn’t approve the 2009 quarterly budget by that date, the city wouldn’t be “authorized to spend money” in 2009, city Finance Director David Bozanich said.
Bozanich said he expects council to approve both budgets Dec. 30.
The city administration is projecting a $3.5 million shortfall for next year.
Without cuts or increases in revenue, the city would have to lay off about 60 to 80 employees to make up the projected deficit.
“Layoffs are the last resort,” Rimedio-Righetti said.
She proposed, if it’s possible, for the administration to give the city’s year-end reconciliation budget to council in October or November.
When told of Rimedio-Righetti’s suggestion, Mayor Jay Williams said the reconciliation has to be “done at the last possible time so you can reconcile the entire budget. You can’t do it in October or November. It’s to reconcile all of your expenses for the year.”
Rimedio-Righetti also said council needs “more dialogue and more information on the budget.”
Council members have a “standing invitation” from the administration to “understand and review the budget process of the city” with the finance department, but many don’t accept that offer, Williams said.
Specifically talking about Rimedio-Righetti, Williams said, “As the finance committee chairwoman, she’s able to and she has a duty and an obligation” to be in regular contact with the finance department about the city’s budget.
Council members should meet regularly with finance department officials “to be more educated and informed about the process. It can’t be done in an hour or a 45-minute meeting,” Williams said.
Council’s finance committee typically meets 45 minutes before council meetings, which are twice a month.
At the start of 2008, Bozanich said he expected a deficit of more than $3 million by the end of the year and about $6 million by Dec. 31, 2009, if cuts weren’t made and revenues not increased.
But the city made up that $3 million amount through a firefighter buyout program, the sale and lease of some assets, keeping some jobs vacant and filling some positions with employees at lower salaries than their predecessors.
When asked if council came up with any viable ideas that were implemented to avoid a deficit for the city this year, Rimedio-Righetti said, “It was basically the city administration in 2008. There needs to be more partnership between council and the administration.”
Williams sponsored legislation Wednesday seeking approval from council on the 2009 quarterly budget.
Council decided to wait until its special Dec. 30 meeting to consider it.
Council wants to have complete information on 2008 spending before it votes to approve the 2009 quarterly budget, said Councilman Jamael Tito Brown, D-3rd, vice chairman of the finance committee.
He too mentioned the need for “better communication between the finance department and the finance committee.”
skolnick@vindy.com