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City Council approves $25,000 transfer to comptroller consulting budget
Summary
Lackawanna City Council voted to transfer $25,000 from the undistributed police and fire retirement line to the city comptroller consulting budget to support the new comptroller and cover workload while the assistant comptroller is absent.
The Lackawanna City Council on May 19 approved an ordinance transferring $25,000 from the undistributed police and fire retirement line to the city comptroller consulting budget to support ongoing work on the 2024–25 budget.
The transfer was presented by City Attorney Adriana Kwiatkowski and explained by Jacqueline Dole, the city’s newly hired comptroller. Kwiatkowski said the funds will “go toward increasing the city comptroller consulting budget” to help complete the budget process and to bring Dole up to speed because she started after budget work was already underway. Dole told the council the assistant comptroller’s extended absence had left “a serious void in the coverage in the controller’s office,” and that she was fulfilling responsibilities for both positions.
Council members discussed prior consulting allocations and whether additional funds were appropriate. Council Member Muflahi said she was “not in favor of continuing to put money into the comptroller’s office” and urged scrutiny of further consulting spending. Council Member Moreno noted the city had earlier increased the consulting line in March and said the March allocation was expected to carry through the budget period; the new request adds $25,000.
Council members also asked whether the transfer would create a gap in the police and fire retirement line. Dole responded that the bill had already been paid, arriving in December at a lower-than-expected amount, and that “from here till the end of the fiscal year, there is no money that needs to go to that” line.
The council adopted the ordinance transferring the appropriation. Motion language recorded in the meeting was to decrease the undistributed policing/fire retirement line by $25,000 and increase the city comptroller consulting line by $25,000; the motion carried (tally recorded as 4–1). The ordinance amends the 2024–25 budget appropriations as listed in the attached ordinance and list.
The council’s action is limited to this fiscal-year appropriation; the meeting record does not indicate any change to permanent staffing or long-term salary commitments.
