43
The commission chairman wasn’t happy about the Niles recovery plan delay
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
The Financial Planning and Supervision Commission was supposed to have voted Thursday on an amended Niles financialrecovery plan from fiscal emergency. But council’s failure Wednesday to meet that deadline left the commission with nothing to decide.
Chairman Quentin Potter was not happy about it.
“I wonder about the sense of urgency so the city gets what it needs,” Potter said. “[Niles] remains out of compliance with the law.”
Potter’s statement follows a similar warning last month from state Auditor Dave Yost to Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia, who has declined to implement the current plan because he disagrees with several of its components – in particular, the relocation of dispatchers from the police station to the 911 Center.
“Either the plan in place is to be complied with or amended,” Potter said. “I think it has to be both.”
The dispatcher issue led two council members to vote against suspending the rules that would have enabled the plan to pass in its entirety Wednesday. Instead, council had to settle with a first reading only and has scheduled special meetings next Monday and Tuesday to finish the legislative process.
“I expect the plan will be approved so that we’ll be in compliance,” said council President Robert Marino, a commission member. The commission, which meets monthly, has scheduled a special meeting to vote on the plan next Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Potter, however, appeared skeptical. He asked Scarnecchia why no action has been taken on his proposal to create an auto impounding lot that is projected to provide $44,000 in revenue the first year.
“We’re in the process of putting it together,” the mayor replied.
The mayor’s plan requires the lot to open by the end of March, but no legislation has been introduced to fund it. Marino earlier this week demanded the issue be resolved by Friday when he learned nothing had been done despite the plan’s deadline.
“Some of us are taking steps and holding people accountable,” Marino told Potter.
Potter, however, questioned the viability of Scarnecchia’s plan based on the delay in implementing the impound lot and the lack of accurate revenue projections for several plan components.
“This may cause us to amend again if those [numbers] aren’t clear,” Potter said.
The plan, which balances the budget for five years, does not include revenue from the 0.5 percent income tax hike that appears on the March 15 ballot. John Davis, commission member, said the city’s ability to emerge from fiscal emergency is likely to hang on the outcome.
“The levy is key to the plan,” Davis said. “The community is rampant with tension because we have fine young people laid off.”