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WILKES-BARRE &#8212; In just one month&#8217;s time, the city&#8217;s finances took a $3.1 million swing as expenses topped revenues at the end of November and erased a $1.3 million surplus.A draft of the monthly financial report Mayor Tom Leighton provided to the controller&#8217;s office and obtained through a Right to Know request by the Times Leader showed a deficit of $1.7 million.Leighton Tuesday was not alarmed by the shift into the red, adding the current year fund balance changes from month to month.&#8220;It&#8217;s just the way it works,&#8221; he said during a telephone conference call with Greg Barrouk, city administrator, and Brett Kittrick, city finance director.Other cities experience the same thing during the fourth quarter while waiting to collect revenue, he said. Some of the money owed to the city won&#8217;t come in until the first quarter of the new calendar year, he said&#8220;Don&#8217;t forget it&#8217;s not bad,&#8221; Leighton said.He suggested holding off on reporting the 2015 finances until next month. The most accurate picture will be provided by the 2015 audit that will be completed by late next year, he added.&#8220;My goal is to finish the year with a balanced budget,&#8221; he said as he prepared to wrap up his third, four-year term and transition to private life.Leighton and his successor, councilman Tony George have sparred over the budget, with the mayor questioning the mayor-elect&#8217;s grasp of government finances. George accused his fellow Democrat Leighton of holding off on paying vendors in order to make payroll at the end of the year and pointed to a list of past due bills to support his claim that there was no surplus.George said he intends to go over Leighton&#8217;s $51.5 million balanced budget for 2016 that did not raise property taxes and the mayor did not object. &#8220;He should. I encourage him to do that,&#8221; Leighton said.But Leighton advised George to stick to it. If George creates administrative jobs and makes other changes, &#8220;then the budget&#8217;s dead,&#8221; Leighton said.Under the city charter, the mayor must provide the city controller a report of the financial status of the city each month, listing the revenues and expenses and a balance sheet of the general fund. From there it goes to city council.The latest draft report of Nov. 30, listed total revenues of $39 million and expenses of $40.7 million, leaving a deficit of $1.7 million. Revenues accounted for approximately 88 percent of the $44.3 million in this year&#8217;s balanced budget. Corresponding expenses were approximately 92 percent of the budgeted amount.Taxes, the largest revenue source for the city, totaled $25.9 million or approximately 97 percent of the $26.7 million budgeted this year.Just two categories on the revenue side were at or above 100 percent of the totals:&#8226; $546,996 in fines were collected, or 115 percent of the $472,800 budgeted for the year&#8226; $3 million in Tax Anticipation Note borrowing and financings equaled the amount budgeted.The city&#8217;s payment of $3.45 million toward its long-term debt service last month accounted for the largest percentage gain of the expense categories. It jumped to $4.66 million or approximately 94 percent of the $4.96 million budgeted amount. On Oct. 31, just $1.2 million or 24 percent of the total had been paid.Three other expense categories exceeded the budgeted amounts:&#8226; $7.8 million or approximately 128 percent of the $6.1 million for general government&#8226; $20.6 million or approximately 106 percent of the $5 million for highways &amp; streets&#8226; $919,520 or approximately 110 percent of the $838,171 for parks &amp; recreation.Still to be paid was the $3 million TAN taken out at the start of the year to keep the city to operating until tax revenues were received. Last week council approved taking out a $3 million TAN for 2016.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jerry Lynottjlynott@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre finances move into red as year ends, but Leighton says there’s nothing to fear