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NILES -- A new public committee that will monitor the city's progress through financial recovery convened Dec. 6 for a lesson on how its budgets work and where problems, old and new, stand.
In the first meeting, the city's state-appointed fiscal supervisors walked members through the process of government fund accounting, detailed how the city found itself in fiscal emergency more than two years ago, outlined the problems its had getting out of that designation and spoke about what needs to happen before it can shed the label.
The audit committee is made up of a business member, Anthony Ciminero of Ciminero's Banquet Center; community member, Sherry Smith; school board member, Becky DePanicis; civic organization member, Carrie Kibby of Avenue & Main; and clergy member, Father John Lavelle of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.
All seven members of council are also on the committee, and Council President Robert Marino, who formed the committee with council's sponsorship, chaired the meeting.
Marino said the committee is like a bridge between the public and city, a way to garner input and foster new ideas to help it become financially solvent with the needs of the community in mind.
DePanicis said some of the accounting principles the city was using into 2015 -- handwritten ledgers tracking everything from deposits to receipts and employee time off -- were mind boggling.
Many of the issues that led the city down the path that got it noticed by Auditor of State Dave Yost have now been corrected, under the guidance of Nita Hendryx and Tim Lintner, the state-appointed fiscal supervisors, and a new city auditor and city treasurer, Marino said.
But there is still a lot of work to be done, Marino said.
The members of the committee bring an understanding of budgetary practices and have a vested interest in the community that shouldn't be ignored, Marino said.
Shining a light on the city's actions will make a healthier community with more trust, where residents are more involved, Lavelle said.