Harhai: Monessen may not need TAN loan for ’21

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

Monessen likely won’t have to seek a tax anticipation note at the beginning of 2021, according to city Administrator John Harhai.

The city’s application for a TAN loan this year was rejected, in part, due to the internal struggles among city council members and longterm debts without a concise plan for repayment. 

At Monday’s work session, Mayor Matt Shorraw read from a prepared graph comparing the city’s finances in August 2019 and August 2020.

In 2019, the general fund had nearly $341,000 and this year it stands at roughly $737,000.

The line usage fee is down by about $70,000, which Shorraw explained was due to the major repairs done to the sewer line on the ArcelorMittal property earlier this year. The liquid fuels fund is down about $64,000 this year, and the parks and recreation fund is about $77,000 less than where it was last year.

Councilman Don Gregor said the city has paid off a $225,000 police Minimum Municipal Obligation left over from 2019.

Harhai said there is $500,000 more in the bank than there was last year and the city has started to pay off other debts left behind from 2019, including a health insurance bill of about $190,000. 

Harhai said half of it will be paid off before the end of this year and the other half will be paid off before June 2021.

“We will very easily make it to the end of the year,” Harhai said.

The administrator said the city has all the equipment it needs now and will likely look to buy a new fleet of trucks next year — four or five of them — and won’t have to pay for them until the following year.

“It’s all in how you plan and how you manage your money,” Harhai said. “We have enough equipment; now we need two more employees in the streets.”

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Tuesday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.