WILKES-BARRE - Robert Lawton did plenty of homework on Luzerne County before leaving California and taking over as Luzerne County manager on Feb. 29.
But he still was taken aback a bit by problems and hurdles involving county finances and operations he has encountered.
"I thought I had a pretty good handle of the challenges that we would face," Mr. Lawton said last week during an extensive interview with the Citizens' Voice editorial board. "But I think probably the thing that has surprised me the most has been the state of fiscal affairs here at the county and the lack of centralization, at least as far as information, much less accountability."
Mr. Lawton is the first permanent manager of the county's new home-rule government which abolished a state-mandated form of governing and eliminated seven row offices headed by elected officials.
Officials in the home-rule government are reviewing proposals for a new centralized financial system and trying to consolidate more than 100 county bank accounts, Mr. Lawton said.
"Checks are written directly from those accounts that don't materialize in the county central financial system," he said. "That's part of a long-ingrained culture from a prior structure. And going forward, it makes it difficult to get historical financial information to track revenues and expenditures, to determine what is appropriate, what's not. And given that everyone knows the dire financial situation the county is in ⦠it's surprising that had not been addressed sooner.
"But again, it is one reason in favor of home rule."
The financial situation is caused in part by a debt burden to pay back more than $330 million in principal. About 20 percent of this year's $122 million budget is earmarked for debt payments. The county is also facing a budget deficit of about $2 million without additional spending cuts.
"I don't think we can get everything into one big bank account, but we may be able to get it down significantly from the 100 or some odd that are out there, and particularly the ones that are out there where the county manager doesn't sign for, but rather other officers do. We are pulling those in as we go through the budget process," he said, adding that later this year, the county will advertise a request for proposals for banking services.
"I am finding that we have millions of dollars in a non-interest-bearing account for which I have to pay fees to transfer money. That to me is absolutely ludicrous," he said.
Before becoming Luzerne County manager, Mr. Lawton worked as principal management analyst at Solano County, Calif. He previously was the chief executive of Calaveras County, Calif.
Some advocates of the Luzerne County home-rule charter have become frustrated that reforms and personnel changes have not transpired since the home-rule government began Jan. 2. Voters approved the charter in November 2010.
"The vote on the charter was the starting gun of a marathon. It wasn't the checkered flag of the race," Mr. Lawton said. "We are in the first leg of that marathon. I think the first two years are going to be critical in completing the vision of the framers as far as organization and staffing, and demonstrating to the public that there has been a real change at the courthouse."
Contact the writer: mbuffer@citizensvoice.com
