Warren budget talks turn to enterprise funds
By MARLY KOSINSKI / Tribune ChronicleWARREN - Water Pollution Control Director Tom Angelo said there is a $60,000 hole in his 2009 payroll budget because of unemployment and separation pay the department incurred with employee transfers from other departments.
Auditor David Griffing estimated the shortfall at closer to $80,000 during a budget discussion Wednesday with the Water and Water Pollution Control departments.
Angelo said that during the layoff process at the end of last year, several employees from other departments bumped wastewater employees with less seniority. When more layoffs occurred in July, the employees were working in his department, so their unemployment and separation pay were taken from his budget rather than the department from which they came.
He said there are 53 employees in his 2010 budget, noting he lost three people in the stormwater division. The fund still is solvent and he would like to fill those three positions to return the level to eight, he said. The stormwater division had four employees at this time last year, Angelo said.
"If your department is 100 percent solvent and you have the work for them to do, why do you only have five?" Councilwoman Sue Hartman, D-7th, asked.
Angelo responded that he was being prudent because of the weak economy and because he loses customers on a weekly basis.
"Every house that is demolished or foreclosed on is one less paying account," Angelo said.
The Water Pollution Control Department will have a negative revenue stream of between $500,000 and $600,000 by the end of the year, but it has money in reserve to make up the shortfall, he said.
Part of the problem is Trumbull County has raised its stormwater fees four times in the past 12 years while Warren's have remained stagnant, Angelo said.
He used the example of Howland Meter No. 1, which includes the Trumbull Country Club area and streets in the area of Blessed Sacrament Church. In those areas, customers are billed at the city rate of $2.74 per 100 cubic feet, while the county charges the city $3.50 per 100 cubic feet. The shortfall from the Howland Meter No. 1 area alone is $353,000, Angelo said.
In the Water Department, Councilman Fiore Dippolito, D-1st, questioned why the 2010 budget accounts for 87 employees when Utility Services Director Bob Davis said he has 85. Human Resources Director Gary Cicero said it's because there were two employees going through the disability retirement process when the budget was prepared who now have officially left the payroll.
However, Dippolito said the department's authorized strength as set by council in 1994 is 84, so there is still one extra employee. Cicero said a secretary was moved from the engineering department to the water department and a breakdown of the water department employees shows there is 85.
Davis said his department has had 85 people since 2001 and Dippolito questioned how that was possible if council did not approve the increase.
"I will not vote for a water rate increase if people are being added over there," Dippolito said following the meeting.
Councilman Dan Crouse, at-large, chairman of the water and water pollution control committee, said he plans to schedule another budget hearing with Davis and Angelo to discuss the issues further.
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CouncilmanDrone
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11-20-09 2:42 PM
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Isn't there also a Henry "Hank" Angelo somewhere? lol (-:
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Lotterydreamer
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11-20-09 1:38 PM
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Joe Angelo is probably somewhere.
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CouncilmanDrone
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11-20-09 12:08 PM
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lol Tom, don't forget about the other O's, the Ciceros, lol. (-:
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TomSmith
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11-20-09 9:16 AM
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Looking at the names in this article looks just like the cast from the Soprano's. Is it any wonder Warren is in such crappy shape? That's at least 3 Angelo's that live off our tax dollars. You have Tom, Tony and that female who does something with the planning dept. Are there any more that we don't know about?
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turi57
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11-19-09 11:08 PM
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AND SINCE WE DON'T HAVE MONEY BECAUSE OF THE HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT... WE CAN'T PAY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS...I'LL STOP...ANYONE GETS THE MESSAGE?
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turi57
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11-19-09 11:06 PM
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ACTUALLY THE SIMPLEST SOLUTION IS TO LAYOFF MORE WORKERS OR CUT THEIR WAGES AND BENEFITS... TELL THEM, THEY CAN'T SPEND AS MUCH AS THEY'RE USED TO...THEY HAVE TO CUT BACK ON GOING TO RESTAURANTS, TO THE MALL ETC. ETC. WHILE WE'RE AT IT WE'D SUGGEST THE LOCAL BUSINESS THAT THEY'D HAVE TO CUT BACK ALSO BECAUSE IF THEY DON'T ... THEN WE'D HAVE TO BAIL THEM OUT... AND SINCE WE, DON'T HAVE THAT MANY JOBS LEFT... WE DON'T HAVE TAX MONEY TO BAIL THEM OUT... AND IF WE CAN'T BAIL THEM OUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY... AND THEIR EMPLOYEES WOULD HAVE TO FILE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT...
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turi57
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11-19-09 10:57 PM
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Unemployment causes a shortfall? naahh... if we buy some more Toyota prius made in Japan... if we buy some ford fusions made in Mexico... if we buy some KIA and Hyundai made in Korea...some chevy aveo made in Korea... some Toyota Corola made in Canada and Mexico... maybe our UNEMPLOYMENT WOULD COME DOWN... OUR TAX BASE WOULD GO UP AND OUR PROBLEMS WOULD BE SOLVED...NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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CouncilmanDrone
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11-19-09 4:09 PM
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"...Dippolito said the department's authorized strength as set by council in 1994 is 84..." That was 15 years ago, when there was still well over 10,000 people at Packard and GM alone, not to mention the countless other businesses that have folded since then. It's definately time to reassess that "84" number, lol. (-:
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Tankgirl
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11-19-09 1:11 PM
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Does this mean my storm water fee is going up? Because I love that when it rains too hard I have to open the flush out valve.
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baldeagle
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11-19-09 8:24 AM
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There is one way to stop all of this vote the bums out this will also remove thier friends & family. The next time there is a election all of this nepotism in warren can be stopped.The majority of the problem in Warren are caused by the voters, they vote these bums in, Think before you push the "YES" button.Warren are you getting the message?
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OldManGrump2
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11-19-09 5:54 AM
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Let's start cutting the enterprise side of the city budget by getting rid of Angelo. He's a sworthless as a teat on a boar hog. There are too many non-productive friends and family of O'B in that area of the city budget. We don't need them people sucking up the taxpayer money while doing little or nothing. Lay them off already and let the city get lean. The economy won't allow all this excess any more. We taxpayers deserve a break today.
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ConcernedWife
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11-19-09 5:40 AM
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85 employees for the water department! They say there is only going to be 55 on the police department and 51 with the fire department in 2010. That's a sad, sad shame. Seems to me they need to put resident safety first, not last.
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gandadl
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11-19-09 5:20 AM
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Eighty five does seem high for the water department rolls.....
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CouncilmanDrone
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11-19-09 1:37 AM
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53 employees in the Water Pollution Control department in a miniature city like Warren, OH? Sue Hartman actually woke up? What are Tom Angelo's credentials? Is he a P.E.? Does he have an operator's license? How many other Angelo's...and Cicero's...are on these payrolls that are never made public to the people? lol Psh, I could go on & on with this, but even I have to sleep...ni-nite. (-:
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