Saturday, December 17, 2016
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
City council, in a special meeting Friday, unanimously approved the latest version of its five-year recovery plan from fiscal emergency, which forecasts positive general-fund balances reaching more than $2 million in 2020.
The plan will be submitted to the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission for final approval Wednesday. The commission has to review and approve city expenditures as long as the city remains in fiscal emergency, where it has been since state Auditor Dave Yost issued the emergency declaration in October 2014.
The positive balances are required by state law for the declaration to be lifted.
This is the fifth version of the plan, which was first introduced in late 2015 by ex-Mayor Ralph Infante before he left office at the end of the year. It was subsequently modified four times this year by Infante’s successor, Thomas Scarnecchia.
“I think it’s a good plan, and the state auditors are with us on it,” Scarnecchia said.
City Auditor Giovanne Merlo projects that by the end of next year, the general fund will be in the black by nearly $114,000. The positive figures escalate to nearly $1.5 million by the end of 2020, but Merlo said the final amount is likely to be closer to $2.1 million.
“Council demanded $150,000 in set-asides each year that total $600,000 [by 2020], so those put us above the $2 million mark,” Merlo said.
The unanimous acceptance is a 180-degree turnaround from two weeks ago when council panned the mayor’s fourth plan submission to the point that no one would sponsor it.
Council was angry the mayor’s then plan contained no provisions for capital improvements such as infrastructure.
At the time, John Davis, a fiscal commission member, publicly called for the mayor’s resignation, describing Scarnecchia’s efforts as ineffective.
The mayor then met with the city’s state-appointed fiscal supervisors and council President Robert Marino and made some critical changes to the plan. Marino and Scarnecchia sit on the seven-member commission.
Among the major additions:
Leasing the wellness center, which has been hemorrhaging money since it began operations. Merlo said the plan calls for the lease to cover the cost of the city’s loan to pay for the building, near $240,000. Whoever leases the center will then pay operating costs, which will save $160,000 annually.
“The city will no longer have any operating expenses associated with the center,” Merlo said.
Evaluating vacant positions for elimination through attrition. The plan requires the administration to present vacant positions to council’s finance committee to determine if those jobs should be filled or eliminated. Marino said he insisted on this provision in the plan.
Water improvements, including hydrant replacement and infrastructure analysis. The city has experienced more than 100 main breaks this year due to its old waterlines, many of which were installed more than 90 years ago. According to the fiscal supervisors, water department overtime has increased by 115 percent this year.
Creation of a work pool from union employees that will allow shortages in one department to be filled by workers from another department. Its goal is “to minimize overtime.”
Initiate programs to replace aging police cars and fire trucks.
“I will vote for the plan when the commission meets with the expectation that the administration strictly adheres to every provision in the plan,” Marino said.
Marino also has been publicly critical of the mayor’s previous submissions. The mayor was asked about the council president’s demand for strict adherence to this latest version.
“Well, we’re going to try,” responded Scarnecchia. “We’ve got to stay with it and get out from fiscal emergency.”