Girard making moves to plug deficit, officials say

GIRARD

Officials say the city is taking steps to plug its general-fund deficit.

City Auditor Sam Zirafi delivered unwelcome news to city council in April when he told them the city’s general-fund deficit would likely grow to much larger than projected.

At that time, Zirafi projected a negative balance of $400,000 due to a determination by state auditors who released a two-year report on the city’s finances in the spring. Auditors told city officials the transfer of $210,000 in 2014 and 2015 from the municipal court fund to the general fund was improper because that money belonged to restricted funds.

Judge Jeffrey Adler had been transferring about $100,000 yearly as a way of paying back the general fund because that fund subsidizes the cost of running his court.

Because the city would no longer be able to make those transfers for 2016 and 2017 (years not included in the state’s most-recent audit), Zirafi said in April the general-fund deficit would likely reach about $400,000.

While the aggregate of all the city’s funds added together is in the black, the general fund is crucial because it can be used to bolster other funds.

Though both Zirafi and Mayor James Melfi acknowledged they legally need to comply with the state’s finding, they bristled at the determination because the city had been making such transfers from the court to the general fund for years.

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