The Wilkes-Barre City Council gave initial approval to Mayor George Brown’s 2021 budget Thursday after making several amendments to reduce fee increases proposed by the mayor.
Brown said he was disappointed because the budget as amended by council is “not a balanced budget. You raised fluff numbers and you reduced numbers that are real,” he said, calling the amended budget “unrealistic.”
The mayor’s original budget proposal relied on increasing the annual sewage transmission and recycling fees from $50 each to $100 each raise $2 million in additional revenue. Facing resistance from council members Tony Brooks, John Marconi and Beth Gilbert McBride, Brown met with Brooks and council Chairman Bill Barrett to negotiate.
On Wednesday, Brown offered council a final proposal of increasing the recycling fee to $80 and the sewage fee to $85 while also increasing the rental registration and inspection fee from $75 to $100. He also proposed using $100,000 in federal COVID-19 funding to create an Emergency Resident Assistance Program to help those in need pay for utility services.
But Brooks, Marconi and McBride consistently said they would “meet the mayor halfway” on his proposed fee increases, agreeing to no more than $25 increases to each.
At Thursday’s meeting, the three council members voted to amend the sewage and recycling fee ordinances Brown presented to reflect increases to $75 for each fee. Barrett and Councilman Mike Belusko voted against those amendments, additional amendments and the amended budget.
The council voted 3-2 on amendments proposed by Brooks to slash budgeted overtime by $200,000, decrease budgeted workers compensation costs by $200,000; and increase budgeted sewage transmission and recycling fee revenue by $600,000, which he said was reported as the approximate amount of delinquent sewage transmission and recycling bills.
The council also voted 3-2 on an amendment Councilwoman Beth Gilbert McBride proposed to increase total budgeted revenue from fines by $100,000.
Barrett called the budget amendments “risky.”
Brown said one workers compensation case could cost the city $200,000.
“Think about that,” Brown said. “You reduced overtime. The (snow-plowing) service you got today and your constituents got today was done on overtime. It was done because we had everybody out working extra shifts. You cannot just cut numbers if you don’t have facts to do that. You’re putting fluff numbers in this budget. … I wish you had some financial and business experience before you did this. You don’t know what you’re doing. You are not allowing us to create the revenue source we need to run this city.”
Brooks said after the meeting that the numbers used for making the amendments “aren’t coming out of the air. We consulted with (Public Financial Management), the city’s state-appointed financial consultant. PFM has consistently said we need to get a handle on overtime, workers comp and health care costs.”
Brooks said the reductions in budgeted overtime and workers compensation costs are based on 10-year averages that fluctuated up and down and were provided by PFM.
Council must schedule a special meeting by Dec. 31 to give final approval to the budget and supporting ordinances.
The post Wilkes-Barre council passes amended budget, disappointing mayor | News appeared first on Correct Success.
source https://correctsuccess.com/financial-management/wilkes-barre-council-passes-amended-budget-disappointing-mayor-news/
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