Outside help sought for Wilkes-Barre’s budget problems

WILKES-BARRE — Mayor George Brown on Wednesday said he brought representatives from the entities that provided financial management assistance to the city in the past up to speed on the budget situation.

Brown and members of his administration met with PFM, the city’s financial consultant, in person at City Hall and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development online for approximately 90 minutes.

“It was more of an informational meeting,” Brown said.

That’s what he expected, Brown said.

“There was nothing presented right then at the meeting,” Brown added. “They listened to what we went through and what we were recommending.”

There was no deadline set for PFM or DCED to get back to the city. But Brown said he would like to hear from them as soon as possible.

Neither PFM or DCED have been involved in the 2021 budget preparation and discussions that have been the focus of the city’s attention lately. However, they have worked with the city in the past.

In May the city received a $100,000 grant from DCED to begin Phase IV of what had been known as the Early Intervention Program. PFM continued its role in providing assistance under the Strategic Management Planning Program for municipalities struggling financially.

Brown proposed balancing his $53.2 million general fund budget with $2 million in revenues from doubling the annual sewer maintenance and recycling fees to $100 each, but city council last month rejected it by a 3-2 vote.

Efforts to reach a compromise and avoid layoffs and service cuts have stalled over the fees. They set a limit of $75 and called Brown’s reduction to $85 too high.

Disappointed they have been unable to resolve the dispute, Brown held a press conference Tuesday to announce he would be planning a “significant downsizing to the workforce” and “dramatic changes” in the services. He included in his list, ending the curbside collection of yard waste, limiting the number of recycling containers residents can put out for pickup, the possibility of delays in snow removal and no longer clearing sewer blockages on private property.

”Let me tell you, we have to do that to make up the revenue that we’re losing and to, to try to run the city in 2021. We just don’t have the revenue to run the city,” Brown said at the press conference.