Commission may seek revision of recovery plan
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
Members of the commission overseeing the city’s finances say they won’t reject Niles’ financial recovery plan, but they will insist upon its revision in the wake of council’s decision to reject one of its money-saving items.
By a 4-3 vote, council rejected elimination of three lieutenant positions in the fire department through attrition. Mayor Ralph Infante had projected the savings at $27,000.
“It does not have to be a major revision, but they’ll have to come up with something that fills the hole they just made,” said Sharon Hanrahan, the current commission chairman who is being reassigned by the state. “I don’t see how council can [unanimously] vote for the plan and then do this.
“I don’t think there’s an understanding yet of how serious this is,” she told The Vindicator. Niles has been in fiscal emergency since a state auditor declaration last October.
Robert Marino, council president who also is a commission member, called the $27,000 “phantom savings” because the city is depending on attrition to cut costs.
“We won’t enjoy savings until there is a retirement perhaps five years down the road,” Marino said echoing statements by the president of the local firefighters union before the council vote. “There are no savings at this time, and you can’t claim what you don’t know.”
Marino said, however, he agrees with Hanrahan that a revision will be necessary as will restructuring in the ranks of the fire department.
Currently, the city is in contract negotiations with all five of its unions, including the firefighters. So far, there is no indication of any breakthroughs, and that concerns Mary Ann Coates, another commission member.
“We need to go back and look at this because we’re not getting any cooperation from the employees and council,” said Coates who is a certified public accountant. “I don’t think it’s necessary to reject the plan, but it is necessary to revise it.”
Hanrahan said earlier this week the city should look into the possibility of layoffs because of its inability to promptly pay income-tax refunds to residents. In the meantime, she said council should go forward with implementing the rest of the plan.
“It’s early yet, but they will begin to see how one action or inaction has a rippling effect,” Hanrahan said. The commission’s next meeting is Aug 19.