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State commission seeks plan from Campbell
By jeanne starmack
campbell
A state commission that oversees Campbell’s finances is ordering the mayor and council to give it a written plan that brings spending in line with the city’s budget.
The commission could take legal action against the officials if the plan isn’t completed by Aug. 16, though the head of the panel says he just wants to see the city balance its budget.
Paul Marshall, commission chairman, had asked for the plan at the commission’s June meeting, and it was supposed to be ready Thursday for the July meeting. Marshall said the panel received nothing.
Bill VanSuch, who is on the commission and also is council president, said after the meeting that council will confront the problem “before we’re called into court.”
“I assumed the mayor was going to put a plan together first, and we [council] would give our input,” he said.
The city’s financial situation has improved in the past two months, with a drop in revenue collections improving and leveling off. Marshall, said, however, the city is still on track to run out of money, maybe now by mid-November. He said he would not let the city continue to spend in a deficit situation.
Revenues were $120,000 behind what they should have been for the year in April. In May, they were $98,000 behind. In June, they were $99,000 behind.
Income taxes, fees, licenses and permits make up those revenues, with income taxes being the bulk of them.
Finance Director Sherman Miles also managed to eliminate a deficit in the street-department fund by reallocating some expenses to other funds.
“But virtually every line is still over,” said financial supervisor Timothy Littner of the state auditor’s office.
He said the street fund only has a positive balance of $900.
“And they’re overspending still. I expect it to go back into a deficit soon,” he said.
Expenses for salt, slag and cold-patch materials were reallocated to the general fund, which helped contribute to a bigger problem there, he pointed out.
Overspending in the general fund has increased. It now stands at $33,000, up from $21,000 at the end of May. Littner said the fire department’s budget remains overspent.
It’s at 74 percent for the year, when it should be at 50 percent, he said.
A laid-off firefighter who was recalled by Mayor George Krinos in December is still on the payroll with no money appropriated for him.
Krinos says he won’t lay off the firefighter again. He says a plan to combine dispatching for fire and police should result in a savings that will help pay for him.
The mayor was not at the commission’s meeting.
Miles said the city will offer an income-tax amnesty program beginning in August.
The program should bring in around $53,000, he said. Another proposal involves an annual rental-unit fee.