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NILES -- The good news is that finances are looking up in Niles. The bad news is that no one submitted bids to lease the city-owned wellness center.
That means the administration will have to come up with a plan to balance the loss of the $160,000 it expected to save by leasing the facility.
"The plan to lease the building was a long shot," said Councilman Barry Steffey Jr., D-4th Ward, and chair of the finance committee. "But it is too bad it didn't come to fruition."
Mayor Tom Scarnecchia revealed no one bid on the center's lease at the city's fiscal supervision commission meeting Thursday.
The plan was something Scarnecchia banked on and included in the fifth version of the city's fiscal recovery plan. However, he said there is a plan B being developed by the park board and the park director to help the center get solvent.
The center does generate cash -- about $316,000 in 2016 -- but its debts and other expenditures were $468,000.
Steffey said Ed Stredney, the independent contractor the park board hired to manage soccer scheduling at the center for $750 a month, was a good move because the center needs to keep generating revenue while a plan is developed.
Previously, Council President Robert Marino asked that a plan B be in place before the five-week bid process was completed. Each month that goes by without new revenue or cost-saving measures will make it harder to keep the 2017 budget on track, he said.
Scarnecchia said the center needs managers with new ideas and time to implement them.
In order to give the administration time to come up with the plan, the commission canceled its February meeting and scheduled one for March 22.
Despite some other commission concerns about a large uptick in overtime costs over last year and reports from the city treasurer that haven't been turned in, members praised the more stable state of the city budget as the commission enters its third year in session.
The city ended 2016 with revenues exceeding expenditures for the first time in nine years, fiscal supervisor Tim Lintner said.
Last year, the sewer department closed its deficit and the water fund is on track to close its deficit by the end of 2017, Lintner said. And the rocky general fund, which at times in 2016 seemed like it could end with a deficit or with only a slight carryover, ended with about $300,000 in the bank, Lintner said.
"What I take away from this, projection-wise, is things are looking up. We ended the year with only one deficit account. But there is still work to be done," Steffey said.
Lintner praised City Auditor Giovanne Merlo for ensuring no funds exceeded their appropriations over the year and for working diligently to handle some of the unexpected financial hurdles last year.