If Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty has obtained any commitments toward a sixfold increase in donations next year from the city's larger nonprofit institutions, he wasn't saying on Friday.
Today is the deadline that was given by the city's Act 47 recovery coordinator, Pennsylvania Economy League, for the city to either secure commitments for the $1.3 million in payments in lieu of taxes, called PILOTs, that Mr. Doherty and council placed in the city's revised recovery plan, or make up shortfalls with other revenue and/or budget cuts.
Asked whether he has obtained any PILOT commitments for 2013, Mr. Doherty would not answer directly, but noted he and council have agreed to use a budget contingency fund to cover any PILOT shortfalls.
"We have it in contingency, and we're working on it," Mr. Doherty said. "I feel confident we'll make it work."
PEL Executive Director Gerald Cross said that as of Friday he had not received any PILOT commitments from the mayor.
The $1.3 million in PILOTs that the city is budgeting to receive next year would be nearly six times more than the $204,000 that the city had received this year in PILOTs by October.
The large PILOT increase being sought is one of the key revenue alternatives to property tax hikes in the city's revised Act 47 recovery plan adopted by the mayor and council in August. The recovery plan calls for PILOTs of $1.3 million in 2013, $1.95 million in 2014 and $2.4 million in 2015.
Under the recovery plan, PEL set a deadline of today for the city to either obtain written PILOT commitments for the $1.3 million or replace shortfalls with other revenue and/or budget cuts. Mr. Doherty and council President Janet Evans said using a contingency fund to cover PILOT shortfalls satisfies PEL's requirement.
Mr. Cross said this approach may cover PILOT shortfalls but the contingency fund then may not be available as usual for potential line-item overruns.
"It makes the budget that much tighter and all of the other goals harder to be met," Mr. Cross said. "If any other revenues don't come through, you'll have to make cuts. You don't have a cushion anymore. You have less room for error."
Mrs. Evans said she did not know if the mayor had lined up any PILOT commitments, but the city would continue to pursue nonprofits to contribute what she has called a "fair share" donation to the city.
"That is something you can work on in the new year," Mrs. Evans said.
The University of Scranton, one of the city's largest nonprofit institutions, said Friday in a statement, "The University of Scranton has not signed an agreement regarding voluntary contributions to the city of Scranton. We have supported the city consistently since 1983 through voluntary contributions totaling more than $2.7 million."
The PILOT increases were sought by council during the mayor/council fight earlier this year over revising the recovery plan, and the mayor agreed to assume responsibility for pursuing them. A PILOT has been defined by the city as a donation "made to compensate a local government for some or all of the tax revenue that it loses because of the nature of the ownership or use of a particular piece of property."
The city this year budgeted for $183,000 in PILOTs, and as of early November had received $204,300 as follows: $175,000 from the University of Scranton; $22,800 from the Scranton Housing Authority; $6,000 from Lutherwood senior housing; and $500 from Harrison House Personal Care Home.
The 2013 budget that was introduced Thursday by council states, "In 2013, the elected leadership of the city of Scranton has decided to aggressively pursue the large nonprofits."
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com