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WILKES-BARRE — Even before they’ve been made public, some of the options a consultant is proposing to improve city finances are causing a stir.

City council Chairwoman Beth Gilbert and city Administrator Ted Wampole agreed privatizing the ambulance and public works services as a cost-saving measure was one of the most drastic steps proposed by The PFM Group of Philadelphia.

“I stand vehemently against any privatization of any of our city services, especially as an attempt to save money,” Gilbert said by email Wednesday.

She said the city could end up paying more for services in the long run and residents could receive less than they get now.

“If privatization is on the table, then so is quality,” Gilbert reasoned.

The financial consultant hired last year for $75,000 to assist the city with developing a game plan to fix its finances under the state’s Early Intervention Program will present the options at a public meeting Thursday night at City Hall. PFM representatives, paid from the combination of a $60,000 state grant and $15,000 from the city, have appeared before council several times since December.

Gordon Mann, director of The PFM Group, said the upcoming presentation will take into account developments over the past four months, including council’s approval of a $47.1 million balanced budget for 2017.

“We’ll give an updated financial projection,” he said, adding the discussion will focus on ways to address the fiscal woes facing the city. He declined to go into detail about the presentation.

Wampole said he’s seen the options. “Some of them make sense,” he said.

The consultant is doing its job — taking a hard look at the numbers and making recommendations, according to Wampole.

No vote will be taken Thursday.

Meanwhile, another arm of PFM has been providing council with details of a bond deal to restructure the city’s debt service and repair a section of the Solomon Creek wall.

By a 3-2 vote, council approved the first of two readings of an ordinance to refinance a portion of the $86.2 million debt service and issue $5.5 million in bonds for the infrastructure project. The second vote was delayed until April 6 in order to hear the PFM presentation.

Gilbert cast one of the two votes against the ordinance and explained her opposition, saying she would like to treat the two issues separately.

“If we have to borrow money to repair Solomon Creek, then so be it,” she said. But the additional debt from the proposed restructuring would place “even further burden on the taxpayers,” said Gilbert.

Wampole reiterated the administration’s position that the short-term fix contained in the pending ordinance doesn’t go far enough to help with the city’s cash flow. The city will have to go before council in 2018 with another refinancing, he said.

“Our hope is we can get their support for a total refinancing,” Wampole said.

Gilbert would like to see council included in discussions with the administration instead of only when PFM issues a new report. “The city simply cannot function properly if city council continues to be left in the dark,” she said.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_WB-City-logo-11.jpg.optimal.jpg
One plan would privatize services

By Jerry Lynott

[email protected]

IF YOU GO

What: Wilkes-Barre city council will hold a special public meeting on a “Presentation and Discussion of PFM’s Early Intervention Program, Menu of Options”

When: 6 p.m. Thursday

Where: City Hall, 40 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre, fourth-floor city council chambers

For other local news stories, click here.

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.