PFM presents strategic financial plan to Lackawanna County to address cash crisis and structural deficits

Gordon Mann, a consultant with Public Financial Management (PFM), told Lackawanna County commissioners that the firm’s first‑phase report finds an immediate cash‑flow crisis and longer‑running structural budget gaps that will take several years to fix. "This is the end of the beginning," Mann said, summarizing PFM’s work with the county and the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

PFM’s presentation said the county’s general fund had about $6.1 million on hand during the cash crisis and that the county carried roughly $18.5 million in bills from 2023 into 2024. Mann described three tiers of fiscal stability the plan addresses: cash stability (enough money on hand to pay bills), budgetary stability (year‑to‑year balance of revenues and expenditures), and structural stability (recurring revenues that match recurring expenditures).

The consultants urged immediate and ongoing cash‑management practices, including monthly cash projections and a multiyear baseline financial projection. They also recommended strengthening internal controls…