Thursday, May 21, 2015
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
An admission by the city auditor that he cannot meet a deadline in the city’s recovery plan from fiscal emergency forced the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission on Wednesday to reject the entire five-year plan despite state auditors calling it “viable and realistic.”
The 35-point plan was submitted by Mayor Ralph Infante and approved by council last week. Niles has been in fiscal emergency since last October.
Auditor Charles Nader said he could not complete installation of payroll into the new software system by the June 1 deadline. Although it was the only problem in the entire plan, Sharon Hanrahan, commission chairman, said state statutes require rejection if a plan cannot be accepted in full.
Acting on Hanrahan’s recommendation, the commission voted 6-1 to reject with only the mayor voting against it. None of the commission members voiced opposition to any of the remaining 34 points.
After being pressed by Hanrahan, Nader said he expected to complete the project Aug. 1, a date that did not sit well with the commission chairman and other members because auditors need timely electronic information on the state of the city’s finances much sooner.
“We will have gone eight months without payroll information,” Hanrahan said. “It is an important part of everything.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Mary Ann Coates, the only certified public accountant on the commission, told The Vindicator after the meeting. “I don’t see how it would take that long.”
Steve Papalas, council finance chairman who is not a commission member, blasted Nader in comments to the panel.
“One person let us down tonight [and] it’s an embarrassment,” Papalas said. “If that were me, I would have to step down.”
Nader, who did not seek re-election and whose term expires at the end of this year, said he has no intention of resigning.
The recovery plan with the new date for electronic payroll accounts will be submitted to council for approval June 3 and be voted upon when the commission meets June 17.
The good news for the commission, and the city, was the endorsement Infante’s plan received from Tim Lintner, project manager from the state auditor’s office.
One of the key points of the plan is a 0.25 percent increase in the city income tax that must be approved by the voters. Other savings, particularly in medical costs, are dependent upon the outcome of negotiations with the city’s unions.
“We’re all going to have to play nice in the sandbox to get this accomplished,” said Robert Marino, council president and commission member.
Lintner said if all 35 points were implemented, the city would have a $2.1 million positive balance in the general fund in 2019, the last year of the plan. “If nothing is done, you will have a $7.8 million deficit in 2019,” he said.