City developing new plan to avoid fiscal emergency
By Frank Lewis, The Portsmouth Daily Times, Ohio | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The two officials met with three representatives from the Auditor of State's Office last week and said the state is not happy with the fact that the city has not followed the five-year recovery plan it set up.
"They (Auditor of State's Office) reviewed our five-year recovery plan that was submitted last year by then-Mayor
Allen said he is preparing a response as to why the city didn't implement the actions listed in the plan.
"They're expecting a new five-year recovery plan be submitted. We've known that," Allen said. "And they did express certain items of concern regarding the city of
Haas emphasized the seriousness of the state's plan to keep an eye on how the city moves toward recovery.
"The one takeaway from the meeting with the auditor is that I think the auditor's office is impressed with our city manager and his grasp of the facts," Haas said. "And I think they have a lot of confidence in his understanding of where we are at financially, much more so than prior meetings that I have attended. So with that in mind, one of the things I think it is important to show the auditor's office when this plan is put together is that whatever ideas that Council adopts that come from the city manager, they really need to implement them."
One of the things Council did recently that did not set well with the Auditor of State's Office was failure to pass a reduction in the city income tax credit. Council proposed reducing the tax credit for people who live in
"I just don't believe we need to balance our budget on the backs of the working taxpayer," Johnson said. "I just feel this is an unfair tax and I didn't vote for it before and I won't vote for it this time."
Favoring the legislation,
"We have people in the city, enjoying the same benefits and protective services and they're not paying anything," Kalb said.
Allen said estimates are that the city would bring in an addition
"They told us they read the newspaper. They're following stories and they are watching us," Allen said. "They were aware that it got voted down and they were also aware reading articles about the (
Allen said the biggest issue in the city's deficit is the need to get the cost of the city's medical insurance down, which involves contract negotiations with the city's unions. He also said he told the auditor's representatives the city voters would not approve another income tax increase and that the reps basically told him it didn't matter, that they should continue to put it up for vote to show they are attempting to do something to lower the deficit. "They said, 'you have to do something or you're going to go into Fiscal Emergency,' and I don't know what that is," Allen said.
"We, as a
In the end of the discussion, Haas summed up the current status.
"The Auditor of State's representatives told us if the city puts a plan together and doesn't follow it they will put the city in Fiscal Emergency," Haas said. "So whether we're going to end up there shortly or not, we won't know because, obviously we didn't follow the plan that was put together last year. But I am hopeful that if Council will show the auditor's office that we are moving forward in the new form of government that they will hold off and allow us to put together another plan and proceed on that."
Reach at or 740-353-3101.
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