Lackawanna County restaurant inspections April 12-18: Which restaurant has an accumulation of dust and grease?

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Tony Denisco, West Pittston mayor since 2011, passes away

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; An estimated $5 million budget surplus at the end of the first quarter provided little comfort to Mayor Tony George in the long run.On Tuesday, George worried what would be available to cover nearly $14 million in pension, debt service and payroll payments in the coming months.The surplus appeared to be a cushion, but it could go flat if any unforeseen expenses occur while the budgeted obligations loom.Still out there are $4.5 million minimum monthly obligation pension payments, $6 million for the long-term debt service, the $3 million Tax Anticipation Note secured at the start of the year to carry over the city until tax revenues come in and an estimated $400,000 for police and fire department holidays, George said.&#8220;We have to budget it through,&#8221; he said.Property tax payments last month boosted city revenues enough to create the surplus. A draft of the monthly financial report provided by the mayor to the controller&#8217;s office showed revenues of $13.2 million and expenses of $8.2 million as of March 31. A month earlier, the city reported a surplus of approximately $2.8 million, largely due to the TAN.In the first quarter, the city collected $5.7 million in property taxes or approximately 57 percent of the $10.1 million budgeted for the year. The property tax of 121.63 mills is the second largest generator of revenue behind the city&#8217;s 3-percent earned income tax. The EIT is budgeted to bring in $12.7 million. At the end of last month, 26 percent or $3.3 million was collected, in line with a quarterly pace.The millage rate has been the same since 2013 when it was raised 25 mills by then Mayor Tom Leighton. A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value. George sought to raise the rate by 25 mills when he took office in January to cover what he said were revenue shortfalls. But<a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/511813/wilkes-barre-council-says-no-to-property-tax-hike-but-mayor-george-still-looking-at-cuts-to-balance-budget" target="_blank"> the city council rejected his proposed amendments </a>and kept in place the $51.5 million balanced budget from Leighton. As a result, there was a delayed mailing of the property tax bills and collections were nearly $2 million lower compared to the same time period last year.Overall, by the end of March, the city collected approximately 26 percent of its budgeted revenues, while booking 16 percent of its expenses.Taxes totaling $9.2 million and a $3 million TAN accounted for approximately 93 percent of the revenue, according to the report. On the expense side, salaries totaled approximately $4.7 million and benefits, including pensions, were $2.1 million. Combined, they made up 82 percent of the budgeted expenses.<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 Mayor Tony George treating first quarter surplus carefully