Niles paying worker insurance, retirement incentives, vacation sellbacks unheard of, state adivsers say

NILES

The commission overseeing the city’s efforts to get out from under fiscal emergency unanimously approved the latest financial recovery plan Thursday.

But at the same time, it heard warnings that Niles has yet to clean up its act when it comes to reducing spending.

“As far as I’ve seen, nothing has been done to adjust the way money is spent other than layoffs,” said Tim Lintner, one of the two state-appointed financial supervisors who noted that Niles overspent more than $14 million in eight years leading to its fiscal-emergency status.

The amended plan put together by Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia is designed to keep the budget balanced as required by state law. Voter approval of a 0.5 percent

income-tax increase this week will assure an estimated $2 million by 2017 for the safety forces, but the revenue could not be included in Scarnecchia’s plan. Lintner said that the administration has yet to produce a plan for capital spending and improvements – especially when emergency situations arise.

“If something breaks in the city of Niles, there is no money to fix it,” Lintner warned. “Things are going to break, and you need money to fix things.”

Nita Hendryx, the city’s other financial supervisor, cited findings in the state’s 2014 performance audit of Niles, which noted that employees do not pay contributions for health coverage and life insurance, while the city also picks up the tab for retirement incentives and vacation sellbacks. The benefits had been granted through labor negotiations and would have to be eliminated or reduced through collective bargaining.

“We’ve never seen this in any place we’ve been,” Lintner and Hendryx told the commission.

Read more about the situation in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.