A new audit of Greenville's finances shows the borough is still spending hundreds of thousands more than it is taking in, but the situation could have been drastically worse.

Greenville council spent $399,000 more than it received in 2002, resulting in a $1.46 million total deficit, according to the just-released yearly audit prepared by Black, Bashor and Porsch of Sharon.

Without state Act 47 bailout money that deficit could have been much higher, said newly hired Borough Manager Vance Oakes,

"The bottom line is the borough has a deficit of $400,000," Oakes said. "That deficit was projected at more than $600,000, so we're pleased it is less than that."

The $660,000 in state money, Oakes said, was all that kept the lights on and the bills paid.

Greenville received the money last year as part of its Act 47 recovery plan. The borough's deficit was brought about by improper spending and fiscal mismanagement. Act 47 is Pennsylvania's program for financially distressed communities. Greenville applied for distressed status in February 2002, the 18th municipality to do so.

For each of the last several years, the borough ran a deficit of about $400,000, an amount that was carried over instead of being confronted. The total debt from those compounding deficits has reached nearly $1.5 million.

Frank Nagy of Black, Bashor and Porsch, who presented the audit to council Tuesday night, said the accounting firm gave the borough's books "a clean opinion."

In the management letter that accompanied the report, the auditors noted several problems and findings in previous audits that have since been corrected.

Corrected issues include:

   » Transferring money from the 2000 capital-improvement fund and the non-resident wage tax funds to cover deficits in the general fund; and then transferring money from the 2000 bond issue to cover deficits in the capital improvement fund;

   » Spending from the downtown revitalization grant was $139,800 over budget;

   » Council had not yet spent all the money available to it through various programs, including the Community Development Block Grant from 1997;

Some problems noted in the past have not yet been resolved, according to the management letter. Those include:

   » Council had not yet spent all the money available to it through various grant programs, including CDBG funds from 1998 and 1999;

   » Greenville Area Leisure Services Association owes the borough $13,830 as a local match to the Comprehensive Recreation and Park Plan fund;

   » A $5,000 state grant for the recreation center/museum cannot be accounted for. The bank account and grant agreement are missing, but the grant is listed by the state Department of Community and Economic Development;

Four new findings were listed on the audit for this year. They are:

   » On Dec. 31, 2001, tax collector Linda Crisman received her payment for the first half of 2002 tax collector expenses, totaling $3,312. There was no council approval noted. However, Bryan Shannon, who resigned as council president that day, was the second signature on the check.

   » Pennsylvania Power Co. was paid $2,060 to remove a tree. There was no council approval noted on the invoice, and it was filed as an administrative meeting and conference expense.

   » A $107 payment for an employee's retirement did not have council approval noted.

   » Invoices for six items selected for testing during the audit could not be found.