WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- The city ended 2016 with a deficit, affirming Mayor Tony George's warning that the $51.5 million general fund budget he inherited upon taking office last year would not balance.
The city spent close to $1.7 million more than it took in, according to the independent audit of financial statements by Baker Tilly released on June 27.
The mayor Thursday sounded a similar alarm for his $47.1 million balanced budget this year. "We're still going to be short," George said.
The city piled up $1 million in unbudgeted expenses cleaning up after the March blizzard and had no success getting assistance from any other government source to defray the costs. If no help surfaces before the end of the year, the expenses are going to melt away a portion of the general fund balance that's already been diminished by the deficit.
The general fund balance contains cash on hand and taxes and other receivables owed the city. It compares the city's assets to liabilities at a given point in time and is a better measure of the city's finances than a year-end budget surplus or deficit, said Brett Kittrick, city finance director.
The ending fund balance was $10.7 million at the start of 2016. After factoring in the deficit, bond refunding, the annual Tax Anticipation Note and the write-off of the former Wilkes-Barre Redevelopment Authority receivable, the balance dropped to $7.2 million, a negative $3.4 million change.
The large write-off of the nearly $2.8 million receivable pushed the ending fund balance lower. It would have been around $700,000 if the write-off wasn't included, Kittrick said. But the city has been carrying the amount on its books for years and the auditor recommended accounting for it all at once rather than incrementally, Kittrick said.
The audit showed the city did better than expected with tax revenues, collecting approximately $29 million or nearly $395,000 more than it budgeted. Licenses and permits brought in $2.6 million in revenues, $233,566 more than budgeted.
Overall revenues came in at approximately $42 million.
However, expenditures for most of the city services -- general government, public safety, highways, streets and sanitation, health and welfare, community development and recreation -- exceeded their budgets. Public safety recorded the largest expense of $24 million or $838,114 above budget.
Expenditures totalled $43.6 million.
Anticipating a deficit this year, the mayor said his administration is working to keep expenses down.
"We made a lot of cuts this year," George said.
The city has sought the help of the state through its Early Intervention Program for municipalities on the verge of financial collapse. In the first phase of the program, the city refunded and restructured its long-term debt in a $71 million bond deal that also provides $4.4 million for the reconstruction of portions of the Solomon Creek Wall. In the second phase, Wilkes-Barre is working with a consultant -- The PFM Group of Philadelphia -- to put into practice some of its recommendations to improve the city's finances. The consultant and its affiliates are being paid with $275,000 in state grants and matching funds from the city.
George hinted at what's to come. "Changes are going to be made that people aren't going to like," he said, adding that applies to city workers and residents.
