SUNBURY - Northumberland County commissioners once again failed to pass a tentative budget for 2014 Tuesday, meaning they must approve the spending plan at their Dec. 3 meeting or conduct a special session no later than Dec. 11 so it can be properly advertised and made available for public inspection for 20 days in compliance with the county code.
A final budget must be approved by Dec. 31.
Commissioner Stephen Bridy, the lone vote in favor of a proposed budget Nov. 7, again failed to receive a second on his motion to approve the $72.7 million spending plan. That prompted a 20-minute debate with Commissioner Richard Shoch, who voiced his reasons for opposing the budget. Commissioner Vinny Clausi, who is in Memphis, Tenn., for his construction business, did not participate in the meeting.
Bridy previously said the tentative spending plan is approximately $500,000 less than the current budget. He said the decrease is primarily due to savings realized by changing investor brokers for the county retirement fund.
Shoch and Clausi voted against the budget at the Nov. 7 meeting after engaging in a lengthy argument in which both accused each other of playing politics.
In a statement read at Tuesday's meeting, Bridy chastised Shoch for
his refusal to approve the budget and also criticized Clausi for voting against the budget after initially seconding Bridy's motion to approve the plan Nov. 7.
"You (Shoch) repeatedly voted for pay increases and against cuts," Bridy said. "Do you realize we need a balanced budget? We inherited a $2 million deficit that must be addressed."
He said citizens expect elected officials to compromise.
He added, "According to your rationale, no elected official should vote for any budget unless that elected official voted for everything in the proposed budget. Using your rationale, no budget would ever be passed on any level of government."
Shoch said he opposed the tentative spending plan because it contains 42 to 48 percent salary cuts for row officers, potential additional expenses for upgrades to the county 911 system and miscommunication and misleading information from his fellow commissioners.
"Money is flying out the door," Shoch said. "You (Bridy) are mischaracterizing the facts."
Shoch said Clausi voted against his own budget.
"He (Clausi) championed this budget and then he votes against it," he said. "He threatens to shut down county government because I didn't vote for it," Shoch said.
Shoch criticized Clausi for not participating in the meeting.
He said Bridy and Clausi never fulfilled their promise to taxpayers to have an independent investigation done into the controversy surrounding the possible payback of $215,000 in grant money by the county to the state Department of Community and Economic Development for a homelessness prevention program. Shoch said his fellow commissioners contacted the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to have an audit conducted on the county's handling of the grant to find out what it did wrong, but never requested an actual investigation.
Bridy adamantly disagreed with Shoch, stating he personally contacted an official in the Inspector General's Office about conducting an investigation.
"When our seniors and disabled children do not receive the benefits they need, I and the people will hold you and Mr. Clausi responsible for your childlike stance," Bridy said. "You are demonizing those who are working hard to move the county forward into the 21st century because you have absolutely nothing to bring to the table. This government is more transparent now than it's ever been."
Bridy said residents will not be happy when taxes are raised, positions are eliminated and raises aren't granted.
He told Shoch, "You can't have it both ways. You cannot vote for increases and then not vote to pay for them. We were elected to do what's right for the taxpayers of this county. Should the county shut down for a prolonged period of time, we will default on bills and debt payments, which will destroy our credit rating because both of you want to play politics."
In a related issue, Bridy's motion to have long-term debt service forgiven for 2013 on $5.1 million that was borrowed primarily for cash flow died for lack of a second.
Budget director Jeff McClintock said if the debt service isn't forgiven by the end of the year, it could result in downgrading the county's bond rating from a B to a B-minus and affect interest rates on the county's past two borrowings.