Feb 21, 2022 3 min read

MONESSEN – As financial woes in the city continue, avenues have had to be explored to make certain payments.

Recently, the city used its payment from Comcast of about $35,000 to help cover its payroll, a cost that was in the neighborhood of $65,000.

“We were around $30,000 short,” said Councilman Anthony Orzechowski, the city’s director of accounts and finance. “I was going to have to use some of the money that is left in our ARP (American Recovery Program) fund. With Comcast, we were up to about $80,000 in the general fund, which was more than enough to cover payroll.”

That move was able to cover the latest payroll, but Orzechowski said there are many financial problems ahead.

Council has implemented a freeze on purchases, unless approved by council.

“It’s not pretty,” Orzechowski said. “We owe a little bit over $800,000 in all of our bills. We don’t have it and we’re not going to have it.”

Earlier this month, Mayor Ron Mozer used his own personal credit card to fuel city vehicles for police officers, firefighters and street department workers. A payment to the credit card company had not been received in time for the refueling to take place.

“There was a timing problem with the credit card,” Mozer explained. “It was tied up in the mail, so the credit card wasn’t working. I took care of it.”

Orzechowski added that a wire transfer had to be done to make an immediate payment of the bill.

Mozer did say he was reimbursed at council’s Feb. 16 meeting.

In the search for funding, the city has applied for a $500,000 tax anticipation loan. Mozer said he still has yet to hear from the bank as to whether the city is receiving the loan.

“I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not,” he said.

Orzechowski is not even optimistic that enough money will be on hand to cover all debts even after tax money starts to come into the city, in March.

“That means things can keep running, but you still have that debt,” he said. “You still have incurred expenses of running a city every month.”

Controller Rosalie Nicksich reported at the Feb. 10 meeting of council that there was slightly more than $8,000 left in the general fund from 2021.

“You don’t run a city on $8,000,” Orzechowski said.

He added that he plans to let the citizens know how their money is being spent and plans to continue to be frugal.

“It may be painful,” Orzechowski said. “It may not be pretty, but we’re going to show people. It’s a harsh reality that maybe everybody will get used to and say, maybe it can get better. We certainly hope it will.”

Orzechowski said challenging times lie ahead.

“I told the employees there’s no guarantee that every two weeks we’re going to make a payroll,” he said. “I don’t know where this is going to go.”

Orzechowski reiterated the statement when council met Wednesday.

“I have no idea if we’re going to make the next payroll,” he said that night. “We take it day by day and see what we bring in. It’s a balancing act right now.”