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Niles mayor hopes to save dispatchers
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia said he expects to learn next week whether he will be able to save the jobs of police dispatchers in his financially distressed city.
Niles has been in fiscal emergency since October 2014.
The mayor has been ordered to come up with an amended financial recovery plan before next month’s deficit commission meeting. The commission oversees the city’s budget, spending and plan compliance.
The current recovery plan includes a provision to contract with Trumbull County for dispatch service that would save a projected $93,000 this year and $134,000 in 2017. Scarnecchia opposes the cutbacks.
Dispatchers are paid through the city’s general fund, which faces a $1.5 million deficit this year according to state auditors. Scarnecchia said Friday he hopes to use enterprise funds instead to maintain dispatcher services.
The city’s water, light and sewer departments operate with enterprise funds because they generate their own revenue.
The mayor believes dispatchers qualify for enterprise funding because they receive a number of calls about problems in all three departments after city buildings close.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of calls to the center when there’s a power outage or a watermain break,” said Police Chief Robert Hinton. “That’s why I look at them as city dispatchers and not police dispatchers.”
Hinton said the documentation provided to the auditors consisted of a cover spreadsheet and supporting data.
“I expect next week to go to our financial supervisers,” Scarnecchia said. “We’re putting it into the amended plan, and if they approve, it will go before council Feb. 17.”
The deficit commission meets the following day.
“We did receive the documentation, and we’re reviewing it, but we’ve rendered no opinion just yet,” said Carrie Bartunek, press secretary for Ohio Auditor Dave Yost. Earlier this week, Yost strongly criticized the mayor for his inaction on implementing the current recovery plan.
Generally, enterprise funds cannot be transferred into the general fund, but Bartunek said there can be exceptions. “Theoretically, it is possible, [but] the documents need to show how the time and effort benefit those funds,” she said.
Bartunek said the state-appointed financial supervisors also have to weigh the impact that the transfer will have on the enterprise funds. “They have to look at all funds and see where they can save dollars,” she told The Vindicator.
The vote on a 0.5 percent income-tax increase on the March 15 ballot may determine how soon the city recovers from fiscal emergency. The issue would generate $2 million for the safety forces, which would then free up money in the general fund. The city’s current income-tax rate is 1.5 percent.
Police, fire and other city departments are already working with shorter staffs. Scarnecchia ordered the layoffs of 12 employees, six in the safety forces, because of the general-fund shortfall.