After revelations about the Borough of Greenville's fiscal problems hit newspapers last month, incumbent Councilmen Richard S. Houpt and Bryan D. Langietti said they were unaware of the borough's dire financial straits until November.

While some residents questioned their claims, Borough Manager Kenneth S. Weaver backed them up Thursday.

Weaver, who began working for the borough early last month, said he unearthed the biggest fiscal problem facing the borough -- a growing budget deficit -- during his interview for the manager's job in November.

"They (council) didn't know," Weaver said during a council meeting Thursday.

During the job interview, Weaver said he was asked what his first priority would be if he were hired.

"I said it would be to deal with the financial deficit," Weaver said.

Weaver said "jaws dropped" after he gave his answer.

"I told them that they had a very large deficit," Weaver said.

"I was surprised that it was that large, and also that $500,000 of the bond money had been used (for day-to-day expenses)," Weaver added.

Weaver said he discovered the problems in an audit of the borough's finances from 2000.

"I've always asked for audits before my interviews. You can't trust budgets," said Weaver, who has been the top administrator of four cities in three states and a county administrator in Virginia.

Several council members have said audits were unavailable to them despite repeated requests for copies. Borough staffer Betsy Smith said Thursday that former Manager Peter D. Nicoloff Jr. had "locked the last two years of audits in a safe." She said it took her repeated requests to get the audits so she could send copies to the state.

Nicoloff resigned Oct. 31. He has been unavailable for comment for a month.