Fayette commissioners vow to balance amended budget
Fayette County commissioners will return to the conference table to tackle a $2.34 million gap between expenditures and revenues in the 2016 amended budget.
The unbalanced spending plan was presented Friday at a special commission meeting. The elected officials have until Feb. 15 to adopt a balanced budget, but plan to do so on Feb. 12.
The revised budget shows revenue of $28.3 million and expenditures totaling $31.2 million.
The commissioners have spent the bulk of the past two weeks scrutinizing the figures, meeting with department directors and conferring with the county financial consultant in an effort to equalize the anticipated 2016 income and expenses.
“I want to thank my fellow commissioners for all their hard work,” said commission Chairman Vincent Vicites. “We have a long way to go.
“We will continue to pare down and cut costs. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink said that the panel has agreed to move more than $3.5 million from the revenue side of the original budget and restore the funding in the appropriate accounts.
The officials learned this week from Sam Lynch, senior consultant with Susquehanna Accounting and Solutions Inc. of Harrisburg, that $1.6 million received through Act 13 funding was used to balance the initial budget along with a combined $1.8 million from the debt service and insurance fund.
Lynch was hired in December by then-Commissioners Al Ambrosini and Vince Zapotosky to aid in the completion of the original 2016 budget. The two adopted a $32.7 million spending plan in mid-December prior to their departure from office. Zimmerlink did not sign off on the budget.
Lynch was re-hired by the current administration to advise them as they worked to reduce the Ambrosini/Zapotosky spending plan.
The deficit was additionally increased with the commissioners approving a 91 percent real estate tax collection rate over the 92 percent rate outlined by the former commission board.
“It was not realistic, so we took it down to where it was realistic,” said Vicites, adding that the revenue reduction totaled $128,000.
While prior meetings have been conducted with department directors, Zimmerlink said that several will be asked to return next week in a effort to reduce their respective budgets.
The officials also noted that some planned capital projects in the budget could be delayed or cut to pare the remaining deficit.
“We removed all the line items from the capital outlay budget,” said Zimmerlink. “That does not mean some of those will not be funded.
“Many can be funded through (the restored) Act 13 funding reserves and possibly grants.”
Vicites and Zimmerlink, along with Commissioner Dave Lohr agreed that a priority capital project is to repair the courthouse and other government buildings that are falling into disrepair and purchase needed vehicles.
“I was really appalled at the condition of our courthouse,” said Vicites, noting the leaking roof that has impacted both the third and fourth floors of the building. “We have to take swift and immediate action to get those repairs done.”
Zimmerlink said that Act 13 allows for funding to be allocated for those types of projects.
“The important part is to plan ahead (for such projects and purchases) for how it is going to be paid for,” said Zimmerlink.
Vicites, meanwhile, said the re-opening and adjusting of the budget will allow the county to meet its financial obligations through December.
“We’ve uncovered a lot of problems and we are trying to find solutions to them,” he said. “This process will not end with the adoption of the amended budget.
“It is a blueprint that will need to be monitored.”
Lohr agreed that it is imperative that a reasonable balanced budget be prepared for the commissioners to operate the county and provide the services they are mandated to do.
“We have to get this budget in hand,” he said. “We have to operate in the black, not the red.
“We are going to have things arise in the future that we will have to address. Some will be big expenditures.
“It will be beneficial to start this four-year term with a good budget.”
Budget discussions will resume Monday at 10 a.m. in the commission conference room at the courthouse.
A special meeting will be held Friday, Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. to adopt the amended budget.
The proposed amended budget is available for review on the county website at http://www.co.fayette.pa.us/Pages/default.aspx.