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Deadly bus crash on I-380 in Lackawanna County

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Luzerne County Restaurant Inspections: Oct. 10 to 14

<p>Today will be an important one in the City of Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>That&#8217;s because Mayor Tony George will present his proposed 2019 general fund budget at 10 a.m. in the council chambers at City Hall.</p><p>The mayor&#8217;s presentation will be open to the public. We know only a handful of the city&#8217;s 40,000-odd residents are likely to attend &#8212; that&#8217;s understandable, it being in the morning on a workday &#8212; though we will of course be present to bring you a report on what the mayor says and what his document contains.</p><p>We sincerely hope you will read about it, and that you will consider attending council meetings as the budget works its way through the legislative process.</p><p>The stakes are especially high as the city rebounds from its failed attempt to obtain &#8220;distressed city&#8221; status under the state&#8217;s Act 47.</p><p>Pennsylvania&#8217;s Department of Community and Economic Development in late August notified George&#8217;s administration it believed Wilkes-Barre could straighten out its finances by further pursuing measures through the Early Intervention Program designed to avoid Act 47.</p><p>The financial picture George painted for DCED at the Aug. 1 public hearing it held at City Hall on his petition for Act 47 was dismal. He estimated a deficit next year of approximately $2 million and close to $7 million in 2020.</p><p>Are things still expected to be that bad? It&#8217;s hard to say.</p><p>The city is operating on a $49.4 million balanced general fund budget for 2018. The draft financial report for August, unveiled last week, listed revenues of $35.1 million and expenses of $24.7 million, leaving a $10.4 million balance through eight months of the year.</p><p>That said, city Administrator Ted Wampole acknowledged the city &#8220;may not hit its goal&#8221; of $1 million in parking meter revenues. Through Aug. 31, meter revenue was $495,173, or 49.5 percent of the budget.</p><p>Other revenues, such as garbage bag fees, permit revenues and earned income tax proceeds are up, however.</p><p>So far, the administration has been tight-lipped about what to expect in today&#8217;s presentation. That&#8217;s understandable; they have a lot of work to do, and we&#8217;ll all find out soon enough.</p><p>Here is a reminder of what we can expect from a procedural standpoint:</p><p>&#8226; Under requirements of the City Charter, the mayor&#8217;s budget statement must give an explanation of the expenditures and revenues and indicate major changes, such as &#8220;new, expanded or abolished programs&#8221; from the current $49.4 million balanced budget.</p><p>&#8226; The message also must contain a summary of the city&#8217;s debt position and &#8220;other material that will inform the council and the public of municipal goals.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Council must hold a public hearing on the budget by Dec. 1.</p><p>&#8226; Council can approve the budget as it is presented or amend it. If the amendments increase, decrease or readjust the budget by more than 5 percent, it goes back to the mayor for his review and re-submission to council and another public hearing.</p><p>&#8226; The Charter sets a deadline of Dec. 31 for council to approve the budget. If it fails to do so by the end of the year, the budget last submitted by the mayor goes into effect.</p><p>Last November&#8217;s public hearing on the budget before council lasted all of 13 minutes, was sparsely attended and only one resident spoke.</p><p>If you care about your city, pay attention to the news coverage of the budget process and consider attending this year&#8217;s budget hearing, once the date is announced.</p><p><em> &#8212; Times Leader</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Officials with the state Department of Community and Economic Development listen to Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George offer testimony during a public hearing on the city&#8217;s application for distressed status at City Hall in August. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL080218ACT47-JL_1-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Officials with the state Department of Community and Economic Development listen to Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George offer testimony during a public hearing on the city&#8217;s application for distressed status at City Hall in August. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our View: Pay attention to Wilkes-Barre budget presentation