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WILKES-BARRE — Several city departments have exceeded their budgets for overtime and Mayor Tony George has told them to get it under control.
Some of the added expense was incurred during the all-hands-on-deck effort by the city to clean up after the March blizzard. The overall costs topped $1 million and included payments to private contractors hired to clear streets of the record snowfall of nearly 2 feet. If not reined in during the second half of the year, the overtime would put more pressure on city finances slammed by the unbudgeted expenses of the storm cleanup.
“The mayor is going right at it right now,” city Administrator Ted Wampole said Tuesday. “Overtime is one thing we actually do have control over.”
Salaries and benefits account for $32.3 million, or 69 percent, of the $47.1 million in expenses in this year’s balanced general fund budget. As of July 31, expenses totaled $21.2 million, or 45 percent of the budget, according to a draft of the month’s financial report. Revenues totaled $29.5 million, or 63 percent, of the budget. The balance through seven months stood at $8.4 million — still in the black but a drop of $976,147 from June.
The mayor said Department of Public Works employees had been working overtime to catch up on yard waste collections. The police and fire departments are short due to workers’ compensation cases, he added.
“We’re trying to cut back on some of this overtime, but it’s tough when you have to get things done,” the mayor said.
The draft report listed the line items for overtime budgeted, actual overtime and the percentage of the budgeted amount spent:
• Police special detail services: $2,000 budgeted, $16,327 spent or 816 percent of budget
• Paved streets: $1,000 budgeted, $2,420 spent or 242 percent of budget
• General building and plant: $500 budgeted, $1,171 spent or 234 percent of budget
• Hollenback golf course: $2,500 budgeted, $4,709 spent or 188 percent of budget
• Ambulance services emergency: $7,500 budgeted, $13,335 spent or 178 of budget
• Waste collection special events double-time: $7,000 budgeted, $12,422 spent or 177 percent of budget
• Waste collection double-time: $2,000 budgeted, $3,409 spent or 170 percent of budget
• Waste collection: $40,000 budgeted, $62,615 spent or 156 percent of budget
• Waste collection special events: $10,000 budgeted, $15,043 spent or 150 percent of budget
• Parking enforcement traffic control: $1,000 budgeted, $1,274 spent or 127 percent of budget
• Firefighting: $20,000 budgeted, $25,242 spent or 126 percent of budget
• Public health: $500 budgeted, $632 spent or 126 percent of budget
• Building inspection: $25,000 budgeted, $30,668 spent or 122 percent of budget.
Expenses pending
Some big-ticket items still must be paid such as the $3 million Tax Anticipation Note, police and fire pensions and the debt service.
The city took out the TAN at the start of the year to fund operations until property taxes started to come in. The city has collected $11.1 million or 95 percent of the $11.7 million budgeted for property taxes.
The new and old fire pensions will cost the city $1.9 million. Payments for the old and new police pensions will be $2.4 million.
The city has paid $1.8 million of the debt service and has payments of $3.4 million pending by year’s end.