Wyoming Seminary Upper School

Albert Trinisewski

By KASIA KOPEC kkopec@leader.net
 Wednesday, January 21, 2004 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE - The city's finance officer on Tuesday presented council with
a request authorizing Mayor Tom Leighton to borrow a little more than $10
million to repay outstanding debts and past due bills. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The loan - a tax anticipation note - will consolidate debts leftover from
2003, including a pair of TANs: one for $3.5 million and a second for $2.8
million. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; About $2 million will be used to make good on outstanding bills and another
$1 million to repay a long-overdue Redevelopment Authority line of credit,
Finance Officer John Koval said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``What we're basically doing is cleaning up our bills with 60 to 100
vendors and taking it down to one vendor (PNC Bank),'' Koval said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Proceeds from the $10 million note also will be used to make a $700,000
pension fund payment, called a minimum municipal obligation payment, that will
free up $2 million in state aid to the pension fund. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Former Mayor Tom McGroarty had long insisted the city did not owe the
pension fund money, but the state argued the payment was due and withheld its
share. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Leighton, who was not present at the meeting because of a personal matter,
has already asked council for permission to take out a separate $4 million TAN
to be used for daily operating expenses and another a $4 million bond issue to
cover long-term debt service payments due this year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All-told, the mayor is seeking to borrow a little more than $18 million. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Koval said this latest request should be viewed as a short-term solution.
The $10 million TAN must be repaid in full by Sept. 30. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the meantime, the city will work with its financial consultant, PFM
group, to arrange long-term financing, allowing repayment of old debts to be
spread out over time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Also Tuesday, there was a second reading of an ordinance updating the
city's administrative code to make it gender-neutral. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The ordinance is the brainchild of council Chairwoman Kathy Kane and
Vice-Chairwoman Shirley Morio Vitanovec, who took exception to the code's
repeated references to chairman and councilman. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kasia Kopec, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7436. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
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W-b Finances Leighton Seeks $10 Million Loan Council Asked To Approve The Mayor's Request To Pay Down Debt Leftover From Last Year