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ANDREW TUTINO andrewt@leader.net
Wednesday, February 09, 2000 Page: 3A
HAZLETON – A member of the Hazleton City Authority has asked the Board of
Directors to renew a 3-year-old pledge to give the city money.
Frank DeAndrea called for the authority to give two $100,000 installments
to the debt-ridden city. Auditors forecasted the city began the year more than
$550,000 in debt.
The pledges stem from 1997 and 1998, when the authority agreed to give the
money to the city during a budget fight between the City Council and
then-Mayor Michael Marsicano. Some council members had planned on using the
money to give residents a decrease in taxes, said William Lockwood, president
of the City Council.
But the authority kept the money because of fear it would be spent
recklessly by Marsicano, said Phil Andras, a former member of the City
Council, now a director on the authority board. Marsicano always has insisted
the authority should have given the city the money that was pledged. However,
the issue sat dormant for about three years.
“If I was on the board at that time, I probably wouldn’t have voted to
give the money to the city either,” DeAndrea said. “Now, with a new
administration in place, I think we should honor the pledge.”
After the meeting on Tuesday, board members who were polled on DeAndrea’s
proposal said they want to discuss the issue at the next work session before
deciding whether to give the money.
“Until I get information on where the money will come from us, I have to
wait before I decide,” said Richard Ammon, a member of the authority. “I am
not against giving the city help, but I want to know where the money is going
to come from.”
Some authority board members are worried about a possible water rate
increase and don’t know if helping the city is an option.
The authority’s management company has said water rates should be raised by
10 percent on April 1 because it is in violation of its trust agreement. In
the agreement, the authority’s debt coverage ratio should be 110 percent. It
is now at 107 percent, DeAndrea said. Essentially, the ratio is calculated
based on the authority’s assets compared to its debts.