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<p>HAZLETON &#8212; City council voted down a resolution this week that would have enabled Mayor Jeff Cusat to borrow money from the city&#8217;s pension fund account and transfer it to the general fund.</p><p>The transfer, Cusat said, would prevent the city from missing the next payroll for employees.</p><p>Council members Grace Cuozzo, David Sosar and Jean Mope questioned the mayor&#8217;s reasoning in putting the short-term loan before council because it was predicated on a long-term Act 47 loan the city would be eligible for if it&#8217;s deemed to be &#8220;distressed&#8221; by the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).</p><p>Although Cusat did apply to be deemed a &#8220;distressed city&#8221; under Act 47, that status has not yet been granted, some on council pointed out.</p><p>Councilman Bobby Gavio, who along with Jackie Mundie voted in favor of the short-term loan, said missing payroll was not acceptable to him and should not be acceptable for the city.</p><p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t miss a payroll,&#8221; said Gavio. &#8220;We need to do whatever we need to do to make payroll.&#8221;</p><p>Councilwoman Jean Mope argued: &#8220;But in the event that we don&#8217;t get Act 47, then how are we going to pay the money back? And at what cost?&#8221;</p><p>Cusat said he&#8217;s been in regular contact with DCED representatives Jim Rose and Marita Kelley.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll find out at a hearing on Sept. 5,&#8221; said the mayor of a state determination on Act 47. &#8220;And DCED said they would answer any questions at that time.&#8221;</p><p>Mope remained unconvinced the city&#8217;s entrance into distressed status was guaranteed.</p><p>&#8220;That why I wanted the pension assets to remain in place,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Resident Antonio Rodriguez questioned how police and fire personnel would respond if the city could not pay them.</p><p>&#8220;Legally, police and fire personnel can&#8217;t file for unemployment and they still have to come to work every day. They still have to do their job,&#8221; explained police Chief Jerry Speziale.</p><p>Rodriguez also questioned council about city police responding to calls in bordering Hazle Township.</p><p>Hazle Township does not have a police department and relies on Pennsylvania State Police for protection.</p><p>Councilwoman Cuozzo said she recently witnessed Hazleton City Police at an accident in the township.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s so simple,&#8221; said Speziale. &#8220;Both Hazleton and the Pennsylvania State Police have their own identifiers. In order for us to file an accident report, the incident would need to originate in the city.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Hazle Township is a rich area and people are infuriated when they see Hazleton police in the township,&#8221; Mope said. &#8220;As a council member, I feel I needed to look into it.&#8221;</p><p>At the end of the meeting, Cusat said he would be presenting his 2018 budget in the near future.</p><p>He said the city&#8217;s current financial challenges could not be attributed to spending by his office, but rather from anticipated income that did not materialize.</p><p>&#8220;Just tell me what line item I blew, beside necessary wages,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Cusat </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Cusat_Jeff_toned-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Cusat </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Geri Gibbons | for Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter or @tlnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Hazleton council rejects mayor’s transfer plan to make payroll