Will fiscal recovery plan for Niles finally hold up?

For a while, it seemed that Niles Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia was flirting with a vote of no confidence in city council because of his refusal to do his job. Such a move by lawmakers would have prompted his detractors to question his fitness for office.

Indeed, Councilman John Davis, frustrated by the mayor’s unwillingness to take the city’s fiscal crisis by the horns, demanded Scarnecchia’s resignation.

“After one year, we are going backwards, and this mayor has no solutions,” Davis told The Vindicator. “He is ineffective.”

Other members of council expressed similar sentiments about Scarnecchia’s performance in office, and that may well have served as a wake-up call.

On Thursday, he presented a revised fiscal emergency recovery plan that appeared to appease lawmakers.

The plan envisions a reduction in spending through the shrinking of the payroll.

However, the mayor is standing firm on his pledge not to lay off city workers. Instead, he intends to eliminate jobs through attrition.

And therein lies the rub.

Although several members of city council expressed their support for what Scarnecchia has proposed, the ultimate decision rests with the state-mandated Fiscal Planning and Supervision Commission that has controlled Niles’ finances for the past two years.

The commission has instructed the mayor to submit a revised fiscal recovery blueprint to members by next Monday. The commission meets Dec. 21.

Before that, state fiscal supervisors must accept the plan, and if they do, city council will schedule a special meeting this week to vote on it.

Because most of the city’s operating budget is taken up by employee wages and benefits, the reduction in the payroll cannot be avoided.

Indeed, six months ago, Ohio Auditor David Yost, who had issued the declaration of fiscal emergency in 2014, blasted the administration for playing politics with the city’s financial well-being.

“[You can’t] go on making decisions based on not wanting someone to lose a job,” Yost told The Vindicator. “I expect political leaders to serve their constituents and not their cronies in city hall. This is not a labor versus management problem; it’s a politician problem.”

It is noteworthy that Scarnecchia, who took office in January, persuaded voters last year that then Mayor Ralph Infante was undeserving of re-election because he had failed to solve the city’s fiscal crisis.

Yet, 11 months later, the debate over how to deal with the fiscal crisis in Niles still rages.

In fact, early last week, the mayor admitted to The Vindicator that the plan he had developed would not get Niles out of state-mandated fiscal emergency and would have to be revised again next year.

That admission prompted Councilman Davis to demand Scarnecchia’s resignation and harsh criticism from other lawmakers.

MAYOR’S PRIMARY TASK

The mayor has had one important assignment since taking office in January: To develop a five-year financial forecast for the city that shows a balanced budget each year.

The lifting of fiscal emergency will not occur until state Auditor Yost is confident that the city of Niles will be on solid financial ground for at least the next five years.

Late last week, during Mayor Scarnecchia’s presentation of his new fiscal recovery plan, city Auditor Giovanne Merlo provided some insight into what lies ahead for city government.

Merlo told council that there will be no additional revenue coming in and that there will be no carryover into the general fund next year.

Thus the question: Is there adequate funding given the city’s fiscal emergency?

The answer Mayor Scarnecchia gave will undoubtedly grab the attention of the fiscal planning commission:

“That’s what we’re hoping for.”

But what if the assumptions in the recovery plan don’t pan out?

As Councilman Steve Mientkiewicz, D-2nd, pointed out, “The only problem is there are expenses we’re going to have to cover, and I’m interested to see how we’re going to supplement this. I assume there will be significant cuts to the general fund.”

Indeed, with Scarnecchia talking about cutting the payroll through attrition, rather than layoffs, the question that must be asked is this: What happens if city employees who are planning to retire in the near future decide to stay on?

The mayor must be prepared to provide an answer.

Too much time has passed for Niles’ fiscal crisis to be dealt with on the if-come.