Mayor Infante: Niles financial morass due to low interest rates

NILES

The project manager of the commission tasked with a recovery plan to get the city out of fiscal emergency has projected this year’s general fund deficit at $2.4 million.

“The general fund fell from $8.4 million in 2010 down to [nearly] $2 million in 2013, a decline of 77 percent,” said Tim Lintner of the state auditor’s office. “[It] has been used to bail out funds many times, but this time there’s nothing left in the fund to bail out.”

Lintner said 2014 figures are not yet available.

“It’s a survival issue,” warned Sharon Hanrahan, who chairs the seven-member Niles Financial Planning and Supervision Commission overseeing development of the recovery plan. The commission was created after state Auditor Dave Yost declared Niles in fiscal emergency last October.

The commission is required to submit a recovery plan by May 12, but it will be considerably longer before Niles emerges from fiscal emergency. Hanrahan said the average time is four years.

Mayor Ralph Infante, who is a commission member, attributed one reason for the city’s failing finances to low interest rates paid in a difficult economy.

Read more about the city's financial predicament in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.