Category: News || By Jason Togyer

A proposed $1 million annual payment from the sewerage authority to the city treasury is only the first step in closing McKeesport's yearly budget deficit, Mayor Michael Cherepko said Tuesday.

City departments must look at every possible avenue to increase revenues and stop relying on asset sales to cover annual losses, he said.

"We have gotten into the habit of managing by crisis," Cherepko said. "We've been reactive, rather than proactive."

On subjects such as pension obligations, the mayor said, McKeesport has been like a homeowner who makes minimum payments on credit cards, pushing off the inevitable day when a large bill comes due.

In other areas, such as collecting license fees for things ranging from personal care homes to video game permits, the city has lagged behind. "We have people in this city who haven't paid their fees for years," Cherepko said.

. . .

The good news, Cherepko said, is that collection of delinquent taxes and fees has increased "dramatically." A city police officer has been detailed through the end of the year to collect unpaid permits and fees.

"We have gotten so aggressive with our in-house collections that it's actually caused some confusion," Cherepko said, between the city and Keystone Municipal Collections, which was hired to collect unpaid taxes. In the past, tax delinquents who attempted to bring their accounts current were told by city employees to call Keystone.

Few did, Cherepko said. "I've taken the position that if someone walks into city hall to pay a bill, I'm not letting them walk back out," he said.

. . .

The bad news is that expenses continue to increase with no end in sight, Cherepko said. Wage increases are built into contracts with police, fire and public-works employees, and expenses such as health insurance go up every year, he said.

"But our revenues don't even stay the same," he said. "They decrease. Our tax base hasn't increased." Community development block grants have been cut by two-thirds over a span of only a few years, and even allocations from the Allegheny County Regional Asset District --- used to pay for improvements and maintenance of Renziehausen Park --- have dropped, Cherepko said.

There are few cuts the city can make beyond eliminating departments and services wholesale, he said. The public works department, for instance, is already running with about half of the necessary employees, Cherepko said.

"People retire, and we just never replace them," he said. "But the number of streets hasn't changed. The amount of things that we need to maintain hasn't changed."

. . .

Although fees --- such as a "municipal service fee" for garbage collection --- have been increased over the years, property tax millage has remained the same. Council President Darryl Segina said Tuesday that may have been a mistake.

"I know (property tax increases) are not popular," he said. "As distasteful as it is, if we would have raised the millage gradually over the years, maybe the bumps wouldn't be so bad ... maybe we wouldn't be in this position."

Segina said the city must start getting more aggressive, too, with property code enforcement. He pointed to Scott Township, which according to published reports has collected $41,000 in property fines and in one month collected $1,600 in fees for rental property inspections.

Mechanical devices fees in Scott generated another $7,500 in revenue, according to a published report. The township's population of approximately 17,000 is only slightly less than McKeesport's.

"What's the use of passing ordinances if we're not going to enforce them?" Segina said.

. . .

A planned reorganization of the code enforcement office has been delayed because a key person left, Cherepko said.

City Councilwoman Fawn Walker-Montgomery asked if Cherepko planned to present a "state of the city" address to explain the mayor's proposed steps to close the budget deficits. Cherepko said he is preparing such a presentation for November, in conjunction with the discussion of the city's 2013 budget.