Niles council passes fifth recovery plan

By RENEE FOX The Niles Times NILES — City Council on Friday unanimously approved the addition of 12 points to the fiscal recovery plan, which required the tightening of department budgets across the board. “I think this is a good plan that keeps the safety and wellness of the Niles and its residents in mind,” Mayor Tom Scarnecchia said. “We took a bite out of everything. We trimmed every department’s budget and everyone will have to make sacrifices to make this work.” The plan includes measures city council and the state-appointed fiscal planning and supervision commission wanted to see to show the city’s ability to handle unexpected expenses and prove financial stability moving forward. After several unexpected expenses in 2016 — emergency repairs and mold remediation at city hall, soaring overtime costs in the utility departments and failing infrastructure systems — the commission demanded changes to the recovery plan not only address known budget problems but plan for the unexpected. The plan designates

NILES -- City Council on Friday unanimously approved the addition of 12 points to the fiscal recovery plan, which required the tightening of department budgets across the board.

"I think this is a good plan that keeps the safety and wellness of the Niles and its residents in mind," Mayor Tom Scarnecchia said. "We took a bite out of everything. We trimmed every department's budget and everyone will have to make sacrifices to make this work."

The plan includes measures city council and the state-appointed fiscal planning and supervision commission wanted to see to show the city's ability to handle unexpected expenses and prove financial stability moving forward.

After several unexpected expenses in 2016 -- emergency repairs and mold remediation at city hall, soaring overtime costs in the utility departments and failing infrastructure systems -- the commission demanded changes to the recovery plan not only address known budget problems but plan for the unexpected.

The plan designates the addition of $150,000 a year to a cash reserve in the general fund for emergencies, a savings plan for police cars and fire trucks, and sets aside $100,000 for road resurfacing,

The commission is scheduled to meet today, when it will vote on whether to accept the amendments. If the commission accepts the new plan, it will be the fifth version since the city was placed in fiscal emergency by the state auditor in October 2014.

If the plan is adhered to, the general fund will have positive cash balance projections for the next five years, which is one of the requirements for getting out of fiscal emergency, said City Auditor Giovanne Merlo. The water fund -- the city's only other struggling fund -- should have a positive balance sometime next year and be able to maintain it moving forward, Merlo said.

"This is a move in the right direction," said Councilman Barry Steffey Jr., D-4th Ward. "We need to keep moving forward with consistency and a well-thought out progress."

Before the city can be released from fiscal emergency, it also must make headway on the problems auditors found with the city's accounting practices. Amendments to the plan will cover those items.

It is unclear when the city will be released from the designation. Merlo and Scarnecchia declined to give a time frame.

The plan also calls for a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce to help grow economic development, $160,000 in savings by leasing the wellness center, an analysis of city buildings so the city can plan future repairs, the development of capital improvement plans to the city's water system infrastructure and a city-wide asset management program.

To address high overtime costs, the plan calls for the development of a labor pool using city union workers, without adding any new hires for the pool, Scarnecchia said.

To save money through employee attrition, the plan calls for all vacant positions to be assessed by the finance committee to see if it should be staffed again.