George seeks help to avoid financial disaster in W-B

Feb. 18--WILKES-BARRE -- Mayor Tony George, faced with what he sees as a looming financial catastrophe for the city, has reached out to anyone who can help.

George on Friday sent a letter to elected officials at the city, state and federal level, warning that unless the city fixes its financial woes, Wilkes-Barre will wind up being declared an Act 47 municipality -- the classification assigned to financially distressed local governments.

The city needs $5.5 million to finance emergency repairs to the crumbling Solomon Creek flood wall, and it needs to restructure its debt to avoid a projected $2.1 million increase in its annual debt service payment starting next year, George wrote.

If neither issue is addressed, the city will be at the brink of a financial collapse, according to the mayor.

Read Mayor Tony George's letter

"As you are aware, the City of Wilkes-Barre is in dire straits financially," the letter begins. It concludes with: "It is my duty to try to avoid being declared as an Act 47 financially distressed municipality. The residents of Wilkes-Barre deserve a financially healthy city, during my administration and in future administrations. We implore that you expedite any resources that would help prevent Wilkes-Barre from becoming an Act 47 municipality."

The letter, released to the media late Friday afternoon, is addressed to city council members, U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, Gov. Tom Wolf, state Sen. John Yudichak and state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski.

For all its urgency, the letter does not contain any new information or proposals, city Administrator Ted Wampole said Friday.

"(George) is just trying to lay it out there," Wampole said.

The city administration for months has "relentlessly" sought funding sources to repair the flood wall, a portion of which collapsed into the creek bed in December, according to Wampole. Those efforts will continue until the repairs are complete, he said.

The George administration will also try for a third time next week to win city council's approval for a debt restructuring plan, Wampole said.

Council in the past month has twice failed to approve plans endorsed by George that would fund repairs to the Solomon Creek flood wall and sharply reduce annual debt service payments; at the cost of adding more long-term debt at a higher interest rate that would not be paid off till 2039.

The administration has placed a proposed ordinance regarding debt restructuring on the agenda for Tuesday's city council work session and Thursday business meeting, Wampole said. Specifics of the ordinance will be finalized by Tuesday, he said.

City council last month tabled a proposed ordinance that included a debt restructuring proposal George supported. Earlier this month, council failed to approve the first reading of an ordinance that authorized debt restructuring in principle but did not include hard numbers.

City council members could not be reached for comment Friday night.

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