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Niles commission: This ‘has to change’
By Jordan Cohen
NILES
The commission charged with overseeing the city’s recovery from fiscal emergency has apparently had enough with the Scarnecchia administration’s inability to get Niles out of the red ink.
“It’s unusual for a city to be in fiscal emergency and not make progress in two years of work,” said Quentin Potter, chairman of the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission. “There isn’t improvement, there isn’t stability. ... You’re not on track and that has to change.”
Mayor Thomas Scarnecchia has been in office 11 months. He succeeded longtime Mayor Ralph Infante who was indicted Tuesday on 56 counts, including bribery.
The Vindicator reported Wednesday that income- tax revenues are expected to fall far short of projections, leaving the city in potential deficit, which its financial recovery plan was supposed to prevent. Scarnecchia is working on a revised recovery plan – the fifth such revision in two years – to be submitted to council and the commission next month.
“We’re worse off than we were a year ago,” complained John Davis, a commission member.
According to Tim Lintner, one of the fiscal supervisors, the city is faced with trimming $400,000 from the 2017 budget, while city Auditor Giovanni Merlo has been instructed by council to create a reserve fund of up to $250,000. Figures released Wednesday show the city in the red by $127,000.
That led council President Robert Marino to ask whether the commission should impose the “85-percent rule,” a state authorized mandate to cut city spending by 15 percent. Such action would likely result in layoffs and reduction of services.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be here,” said Marino, a commission member along with Scarnecchia.
Potter appeared to be reluctant to lower the boom on the administration just yet.
“Eighty-five percent is a big hammer, and I would not envision that [happening] at the next meeting,” Potter said. He added: “But we may find [the plan] lacking and not approve it.
“Time is not on your side,” Potter told the mayor.
Lintner produced a graphic that clearly detailed the general fund’s decline from nearly $14 million in 2007 to only $148,000 by the end of 2015.
The biggest surprise in the graph: Expenses exceeded revenue every one of those eight years during the Infante administration. According to Lintner, when revenue went up, so did spending.
“Extra money went out the door,” the fiscal supervisor said.
On Tuesday, Scarnecchia warned of “drastic cuts” in 2017, but did not explain what those might be. However, during the council meeting that followed the commission, he appeared to back off.
“I’m not laying off,” he said in response to a resident’s question. Later, he offered another response after Capt. Jay Holland, acting police chief, said his officers were worried about their fates.
“I would not lay off police and fire for anything,” Scarnecchia told Holland.
Scarnecchia is to present the plan to council before its next meeting Dec. 7. If council approves, the plan will come before the commission Dec. 21.