LORAIN — Lorain City Auditor Ron Mantini estimated an increase of nearly $6.5 million in revenue for the city’s general fund for 2010 during a Finance Committee meeting Monday night.

But Mayor Tony Krasienko is anticipating a financially tight year similar to 2009.

The increase is almost entirely due to grant money, which is already earmarked for projects, Krasienko said. His administration is preparing the 2010 budget with expectations of only $300,000 in additional funds compared with last year.

While Mantini projects that as much as $1.5 million could be collected thanks to the reduced income tax credit for residents who work outside the city limits, Krasienko said he’s not counting on that money for revenue because the city won’t start collecting it until late spring or early summer.

“We’re going to see a certain amount of an increase from the tax credit (reduction), but that’s still only an educated guess at this point,” he said.

In other business:

• The Street and Sidewalks Committee also met Monday to talk about the city’s pothole problem. Krasienko reminded the committee that a 2008 study indicated it would cost $70 million to repair all 46 million square feet of roadways in the city. “We have to maintain and repair these roads throughout the year, and to sum it up, it’s a challenge,” Krasienko said. “We have a quantity that we don’t have enough dollars to go out and fix every pothole … to everybody’s standards. We’ve got the quantity, but everyone wants the quality.”
• Council members asked City Law Director Pat Riley to develop a Project Labor Agreement for use on future public works construction projects. The PLA would specify employment quotas for things like the number of local and minority laborers used on the project. Michael Sherman with the North Central Ohio Building Trades, as well as several Council members spoke in favor of the agreements for future city projects that cost several hundred thousand dollars or more.
• The Federal Programs Committee voted unanimously to recommend that Council approve a land swap and a payroll tax rebate for Emerson Networking Power in order to keep the company and its 280 high-paying jobs in the city. Emerson will receive a 25-percent tax rebate for the first two years and a 40-percent payroll tax rebate for years three through seven with a cap of $500,000, which officials estimate Emerson may meet in just a few years based on their average yearly payroll of $15 million a year in recent years.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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