Monessen lays off five city workers
MONESSEN – Monessen City Council voted unanimously Monday to temporarily furlough five city workers until real estate tax revenue starts rolling in.
Councilwoman Lucille D’Alfonso said the furloughed workers will be the ones with the least seniority and include one street department worker, one administrative worker, one part-time administrative worker and two meter maids. The workers will be reinstated when real estate taxes begin coming into city coffers. Council also voted to pay $180,731 in outstanding bills as money becomes available.
Councilman Ronald Chiaravalle felt the furloughs were not enough and made a motion to reopen the budget, claiming the city used most if its $500,000 tax anticipation note to pay outstanding 2015 debts. The motion failed. Reopening the budget would force council to pass an amended spending plan by Feb. 15.
Council instead agreed to work with Gerald Saksun, city treasurer, and Wayne Vlasic, city controller, to fine-tune the budget line by line, during this year.
The city’s budget for 2016 is $4.5 million, and taxes were raised 2.1 mills. The city’s tax rate of 25 mills is the maximum that can be imposed without seeking court permission.
Mayor Lou Mavrakis addressed the city’s dire financial situation in his state of the city report. He blamed much of the city’s problems on the former administration and D’Alfonso, the former director of finance.
Among the points he mentioned were $13.8 million in debt to be repaid over the next 28 years; a holding tank mandated by the state Department of Enviornmental Protection costing about $1 million; and $250,000 in community development block grant funds spent on the amphitheater instead of the repair and paving of streets and demolition of blighted properties.
Mavrakis noted the deplorable condition of city streets and sidewalks, the number of blighted buildings in the borough, and the large number of broken parking meters. In addition, Mavrakis said, $1 million was diverted from bond money designated to demolish 250 blighted structures and used for lighting in city parks.
“We don’t have the money. I have been telling this council from day one that we have to do something,” Mavrakis said. “They have turned down every request I’ve made to go in the right direction. We need to work together.”
Mavrakis said council needs to make some hard decisions.
“I have recommended selling Eastgate buildings 8, 11 and the former city hall. City offices would relocate to the library. The cost to taxpayers per year to operate the Monessen library is $106,000. The bond debt and current city library subsidy over 30 years will cost $3.2 million,” he said.
“This option to save the Monessen taxpayers money must remain on the table. Unless city council tries to work with me, instead of against me, our future is going into Act 47 (distressed status). I plead with council to reconsider my ideas and try to save our city,” he said.
Resident Linda Lacey addressed council on the status of her request for a fire hydrant on Maple Avenue. Mavrakis said the installation of a fire hydrant would cost between $3,000 and $6,000 and there isn’t money in the budget at this time.
“I am a taxpayer and that is what I pay taxes for. I am going to get a fire hydrant there,” Lacey responded.
Councilman Ron Chiaravalle said he thought there was a fire hydrant there at one point and would look into the matter. “I think that it may have been removed by the water authority,” he said. Lacey said she was informed by the water authority there is a fire hydrant near the water tower but it is behind a fence and is not hooked up.
Council voted unanimously to remove M.J. Smith and Ted Harhai from the Mon Valley Progress Council effective immediately. Mavrakis and Ron Chiaravalle were appointed to the council.
Mavrakis said a fundraiser has been tentatively scheduled on April 18 to help raise funds for the Monessen Civic Center roof repairs. The event will be a fight between Monessen native Sammy Vasquez vs. Mark Shrader.