Tyrone cashes in CD as revenues dip

Tyrone isn’t broke, but finances are tight in the small Fayette County city, officials concede.

“It’s truly the economy,” said Mary Sturm, the city’s finance director. “We still have the services to provide, but we don’t have the income coming in.”

Officials, contending they have ample cash reserves in the bank, were forced recently to cash in a certificate of deposit valued at $790,000 to avoid having to shut down the library and pare other services.

Sturm and Mayor Don Rehwaldt told City Council members this week that the city’s August revenues were just $54,000, well below the city’s $275,000 monthly operating costs.

Rehwaldt blamed a “cash flow problem temporarily.”

Sturm said the city still has $1.3 million in reserve funds in the bank.

State law requires each municipality to set aside enough funds in reserve to cover three months of operating expenses.

“We have plenty of reserves,” Sturm said.

Revenues are expected to pick up in coming days, officials said, starting with sales tax receipts.

“We’re like any other municipality running on tax money,” Sturm said. “We’re just in a slow period right now.”

In the meantime, various departments have undertaken cuts to save money.

To avoid the possibility of layoffs, the city’s six-woman library staff has agreed to work part-time, saving salary and benefit costs.

The Police Department, hit with a July fuel bill of $9,000, nearly double the average bill, has changed shifts to reduce police vehicle use.

Officers also will use a golf cart recently bought with confiscated drug funds.

Sturm said the city expects to save an additional $80,000 by reducing the benefits paid to dependents of city employees.