×

Niles must use caution, not speed, to beat challenges

We are glad to see the city of Niles may be seeing a light at the end of the fiscal emergency tunnel, but we are concerned city leaders may be jumping the gun on their decision to spend new-found money on immediate employee recalls.

A sudden and unexpected surge in income tax collections was triggered largely by a change in Ohio law that has some businesses paying withholding tax monthly rather than quarterly. That means the city will see 14 months worth of collections this year. Coupled with a few other new-found sources of income, city leaders decided this week to recall eight laid-off city workers.

Mayor Tom Scarnecchia is very eager to spend the money, but that decision may be based more on emotion and less on good fiscal planning.

“We had a very good month last month with our tax collection, and starting July 1, we start getting that half-percent tax collection … so we’ll have the money to bring them back,” Scarnecchia said this week.

It looks good on paper, but we fear that just as quickly as things began to look up, they also could sour. We believe it would be more prudent to pause and take a breath, allowing the funds to build up and ensure finances are on the right track before returning laid-off workers to the payroll. In fact, the 0.5 percent income tax increase approved by voters in March and expected to generate $575,000 this year doesn’t even take effect until July 1.

Before the end of June – effective next week – though, the city will return two police officers, three firefighters, a part-time building inspector, a police department secretary and a custodian.

So far, the city’s scaled-down safety forces have run very efficiently under the direction of fire Chief David Danielson and acting police Chief Capt. Jay Holland, and we applaud them and all the workers for maintaining safety and order. Certainly this has not been an easy task.

But the need for the immediate return of all the laid-off first-responders, coupled by a secretary, custodian and building inspector, is questionable.

In recent published reports, state Auditor David Yost spoke harshly about attempts by city leaders to maintain jobs. Specifically he was critical of the city’s refusal to expedite its recovery by outsourcing jobs in the Niles income tax department and the 911 dispatch center. Yost said the city can’t go on making decisions so no one loses a job. “I expect political leaders to serve their constituents and not their cronies at city hall,” he said.

This week Ben Marrison, a spokesman for Ohio Auditor Dave Yost, stopped short of criticizing the city’s quick decision to spend the funds, saying, “Caution should be the watch word with all spending for communities in fiscal emergency.”

Of course that only makes sense.

The city’s elected officials are receiving heavy pressure from constituents and labor unions to return laid-off workers as soon as possible. But elected officials must make good fiscal decisions that could include returning the laid-off safety forces after they are sure they can sustain the added payroll and without the need to go from one pot of money to the next.

editorial@tribtoday.com

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
     

Starting at $4.85/week.

Subscribe Today