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WILKES-BARRE &#8212; An emergency loan &#8212; the main hope to prevent a Luzerne County government shutdown &#8212; is likely off the table unless a county council majority budges, county Chief Solicitor C. David Pedri said Thursday.The administration was trying to circumvent the council and seek an emergency loan, but Pedri said the county&#8217;s home rule charter is &#8220;pretty consistent&#8221; requiring the council&#8217;s approval to borrow funds.One charter section says the county manager can declare an emergency and take out an emergency loan, but Pedri said the definition of what constitutes an emergency has never been tested under the new government, which took effect in January 2012.The charter says a state of emergency can be declared when there is &#8220;an immediate threat to life and/or property.&#8221; Pedri said that definition would clearly be met in a natural disaster, such as Susquehanna River flooding, but he does not know if it would apply in this situation.County Manager Robert Lawton sent the council an email Thursday indicating the administration has been reviewing numerous options to provide essential services through the end of the year. He said he expects to provide new recommendations to the council for its consideration at Tuesday&#8217;s public council meeting.The administration is trying to prevent mass layoffs, service cuts and defaulting on an $8.5 million debt repayment due Dec. 15 because the state owes the county $22 million in reimbursements that racked up since the July 1 state budget impasse.A county council majority unexpectedly voted 6-5 Tuesday to reject the borrowing of $20 million to compensate for the loss of state funding.All county operations are now at risk of shutting down because the administration has been keeping Children and Youth and other primarily state-funded human service agencies operating since July 1 using money needed for payroll, debt repayments and bills in other departments.Defaulting on the loan repayment may allow lenders to demand immediate repayment of more than $100 million that had been loaned to the county, magnifying the county&#8217;s financial troubles, officials said.Even if one county council member reverses his or her vote next week to provide a majority willing to support borrowing, it may be too late to secure court approval and seek and find a lender in time for the Dec. 15 debt repayment, officials said.Scouring accountsAs of Thursday evening, the administration had identified funds that can be temporarily borrowed from segregated accounts within county government to cover most, if not all, of the Dec. 11 payroll in addition to next week&#8217;s pay.No money has been found to cover bills beyond that, including the Dec. 23 payroll, the $8.5 million debt payment or more than $4.5 million owed to outside service and product suppliers, including some who have not been paid as far back as June, officials said.Councilman Stephen J. Urban, who was among the six opposing the borrowing, has requested bank statements and supporting documentation on all accounts and a tally of the projected revenue from property owners who typically wait to pay their taxes until the end of the year.County Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz said he will furnish a report to the council Friday.Lawton said Thursday there are no hidden pots of money. He said the administration &#8220;stretched the rubber band as far as it could go&#8221; tapping existing funds because he did not want to resort to asking the council to vote on the $20 million loan unless it was the last clearly available solution.Some funds are off limits &#8212; even for temporary loans &#8212; because the money collected or awarded must be legally used for specific purposes, such as technology or equipment, instead of covering operating expenses, Lawton said.Lawton declined to discuss other options under consideration but said he is determined to maintain public safety operations and services for the county&#8217;s &#8220;most vulnerable residents.&#8221;Children and Youth has around $3 million in one account, but most of this money can&#8217;t be touched because it covers $1 million in monthly payments to foster families, the administration said. The county is legally required to provide child and elderly protective services, officials said.Layoff preparationAdministrative Services Division Head David Parsnik instructed managers Thursday to start compiling layoff lists.It&#8217;s unclear how many of the 1,400 employees are deemed &#8220;essential&#8221; and what the county would do if money runs out.Shutting down all offices deemed &#8220;non-essential&#8221; immediately after next week&#8217;s payroll would still not yield enough money to pay the $8.5 million owed to lenders, the administration says. Each payroll is about $2.6 million, and the weekly tab for health insurance is $400,000, officials say.County court officials already have indicated they will seek an order barring the county from shutting down court branches if necessary, the administration says.Employees say the stress level picked up as the second day closed without a plan.&#8220;It&#8217;s been a bad day. We have a lot of panicked people,&#8221; one manager said.Pedri said it&#8217;s &#8220;all hands on deck,&#8221; and he&#8217;s been working around the clock analyzing options.State officials have indicated major payments owed to the county shouldn&#8217;t be expected until four to six weeks after the state budget passage, administrators say.Seeking consensusTim McGinley sent a letter to his 10 county council colleagues Thursday afternoon urging them to &#8220;come together&#8221; to do something to avoid mass layoffs and defaulting on a county debt repayment.&#8220;I am imploring each of the Luzerne County council members to put other issues aside and think about the people we serve. We must focus on this crisis,&#8221; he wrote.County Councilman Rick Williams, who also supported the borrowing, replied that he agrees with McGinley&#8217;s email.Stephen J. Urban told them he won&#8217;t agree to &#8220;some fluff type of letter&#8221; from his colleague until he reviews bank statements &#8220;to prove out this &#8216;doomsday situation.&#8217;&#8221;Lawton said Thursday morning he is away on personal business but is in &#8220;constant contact&#8221; with staff and the county council chairwoman about the county&#8217;s cash shortfall crisis.Sources said he is on a job interview, but Lawton declined to discuss the nature of his absence, saying he had scheduled several days off this week for a prior commitment.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lawton </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_lawtonnewuse6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lawton </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Layoff lists being drawn up as shutdown looms</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jennifer Learn-Andesjandes@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</shirttailMeta></div>

UPDATED: Luzerne County division heads told to prepare layoff lists as loan crisis continues