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Key dates for Niles financial well-being coming up
NILES
Passage of the city’s controversial 2016 general-fund budget will have to wait at least until council’s next regularly scheduled meeting next Wednesday.
The intent at the lightly attended special meeting Tuesday was to bring this year’s budget up for a vote, said Council President Robert Marino.
Two of council’s seven members were absent, however, meaning there were not enough legislators to suspend council’s rule requiring that legislation receive three readings.
Instead, the budget measure received a first reading via a 5-0 vote. Six council members are required to suspend the rules.
Absent were Councilman Steve Papalas, D-at large, whom Marino said was excused because of a death in his family, and Councilman Frank Pezzano, D-1st, whom Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia also excused.
The delay in approving the budget means that mid-March has several dates important to the city’s effort to devise a financial plan over which the state auditor’s Financial Planning and Supervision Commission has oversight.
Niles residents will vote Tuesday on a 0.5 percent city income-tax increase, bringing it to 2 percent if approved, and renewal of a 1-mill replacement levy for the parks department.
The 0.5 percent income-tax increase would generate an estimated $2 million to add to the $6 million raised by the current 1.5 percent income tax, said John Merlo, city auditor.
If the issues pass, two days later, on March 17, when next the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission meets, the city could report a better financial outlook.
Also, Merlo said, the city, instead of laying off more employees, could look forward to bringing some of its laid-off employees back when the money from the tax issue begins to arrive in late summer.
The $69.6 million budget up for approval, however, including $9.8 million in the general fund that supports the police, fire and road departments, is based on known revenue and does not include “if-come” revenue such as the proposed income-tax increase.
Merlo said the proposed budget, with a projected surplus of about $22,245, “is very tight. If something goes wrong, the city has very little cushion,” the auditor said.
The most-important thing is to get the income tax passed, Scarnecchia said.
“If not, there will be more layoffs; we’ll have to consolidate some departments; we’ll lose our police dispatchers, and we’ll have to seek concessions on wages from our nonunion employees. We’d be in dire shape,” the mayor said.