Port Jervis facing budget challenges

PORT JERVIS – Orange County’s western-most city is the latest municipality to say it is facing a big challenge going into 2017. 
During Monday night’s Common Council meeting, Kristin Trovei, who chairs the finance committee, was not optimistic.
“Cash flow is tight,” Trovei said.  “We reviewed the preliminary budget and it seems like it is going to be a problematic budget year but we are working on it.  We have been recently officially designated as ‘fiscally distressed’.”
Mayor Kelly Decker didn’t comment specifically on the budget Monday night but had cautioned, as early as July, that the city will not be able to stay within the state-mandated tax cap.  He did say, then, that there would be no layoffs in order to balance next year’s budget.