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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The city&#8217;s fund balance shrunk by more than half to $4.7 million last month with contributions to four pension plans and mounting overtime costs, according to a draft financial report for October.</p><p>Through 10 months of the year, revenues totaled $38.2 million or 81 percent of the $47.1 million in Mayor Tony George&#8217;s balanced budget. The draft report listed expenses at $33.4 million or 71.5 percent of the budgeted amount.</p><p>The pension payments, or minimum monthly obligations, totaled $4.3 million and made a deep cut into the previous month&#8217;s balance of $9.9 million. Combined overtime for the police and fire departments took another $34,593 bite out of finances.</p><p>The city can budget for the MMOs, but it&#8217;s more or less a guess on the overtime.</p><p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t control that,&#8221; city Administrator Ted Wampole said Wednesday. The departments have collective bargaining agreements and minimum manning clauses, Wampole said.</p><p>From September to October, overtime costs for the police department increased by $19,641 to $146,632. Fire and ambulance overtime jumped $14,951 to $136,457 during the same period.</p><p>Labor relation costs have risen, too.</p><p>The city has paid $115,294 for arbitration with the Wilkes-Barre City Firefighter Local 104 of the International Association of Fire Fighters. It budgeted $80,000 for the year, and the total will climb even higher as additional bills are submitted for the ongoing arbitration regarding a new contract.</p><p>The legal bills for the police department have exceeded the $25,000 budgeted for the year. As of Oct. 31, the total was $46,554 with more to come to respond to the grievances and labor complaints filed by the Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association in its ongoing dispute with Chief Marcella Lendacky and Mayor George&#8217;s administration.</p><p>Among the other expenses that exceeded their budgeted amounts:</p><p>&#8226; Police criminal investigation OT patrol sweep: $3,269 or 326.9 percent of $1,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Police patrol OT: $140,044 or 140 percent of $100,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Parking enforcement traffic control OT: $3,319 or 331.9 percent of $1,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Police special detail OT: $16,327 or 816.4 percent of $2,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Firefighting OT: $39,485 or 197.4 percent of $20,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Firefighting OT emergency: $27,001 or 135 percent of $20,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Ambulance services OT: $53,011 or 117.8 percent of $45,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Ambulance services OT emergency: $16,958 or 226.1 percent of $7,500 budgeted.</p><p>The Department of Public Works also showed increased overtime costs:</p><p>&#8226; Waste collection OT: $76,495 or 191.2 percent of $40,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Waste Collection special events OT: $21,120 or 211.2 percent of $10,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Waste Collection double time: $4,561 or 228 percent of $2,000 budgeted.</p><p>&#8226; Waste Collection special events double time: $16,163 or 230.9 percent of $7,000 budgeted.</p><p>DPW&#8217;s special events expenses will increase further because of Saturday&#8217;s Christmas parade downtown.</p><p>The city has already paid $3.2 million in debt service this month. The payments will be included in the November draft report that will show an even lower balance.</p><p>Still outstanding is the $3 million Tax Anticipation Note that the city took out in January to pay its bills while awaiting property tax revenues. The TAN is due by the end of the year.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wampole </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_Wampole-1-cmyk.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wampole </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre’s October financial report shows mounting overtime costs