Chaos continues at Colwyn Borough's council meeting

The council members sat quietly and cast their votes, unanimously agreeing to seek state assistance to manage Colwyn Borough's finances.

Moments later, they started screaming. Again.

They shouted, pointed fingers, and paced the room. The council president - who had forgotten his gavel - banged an eyeglass case on the table in a futile effort to quiet the group.

It was a typical Thursday evening at Colwyn Borough Hall. The Delaware County borough government is fraught with infighting, lawsuits, allegations of wrongdoing, and an investigation by county detectives into potential financial mismanagement.

After the council's rare moment of agreement Thursday, the borough will enter the state's Act 47 program for financially distressed municipalities.

It could be an important step toward ending the dysfunction in Colwyn, a community just west of Philadelphia that spans less than a third of a square mile and has 2,500 residents. It also has the highest tax rate in the county and a deficit half the size of its annual budget.

Infighting and inefficiency continue to paralyze Colwyn a full year after newly elected officials took control of Borough Council, promised change, and hired a new borough manager.

"It's getting to be a disgrace," council President Paul Meuser said of the contentious meetings.

It has also been a year since a grand jury subpoenaed borough records. No charges have been filed, but the Delaware County District Attorney's Office said the investigation continues.

A financial report presented this month by an outside consultant described the borough government as "ineffective at best."

Even the financial advisers were unable to complete their task; the borough did not keep financial records between 2012 and 2014, so consultants could not determine whether Colwyn had even incurred debts from those years.

The report from the consultants, hired with state help, found "a lack of solid financial-management systems, poor record-keeping, little presence of internal control mechanisms, and late and inadequate annual audits."

Under the state's Act 47 program, borough officials will meet regularly with advisers to develop a financial recovery plan.

Colwyn could also apply for a state loan to pay off its $1.2 million debt, but that will be possible only if the borough can find financial records and complete audits for 2012 and 2013.

Colwyn's debt includes bills and pension payments, reimbursements to the state for inappropriate use of the liquid fuels tax fund, and a shortfall in property tax revenue - 82 percent of property taxes were collected in 2014, leaving $181,000 in unpaid taxes.

The borough's ability to straighten out its finances, apply for a loan, or implement a recovery plan will still hinge on agreement among council members.

The council's inefficiency was on display last week even as financial advisers and state officials sat in the audience.

The few residents who gathered on the second floor of the brick Borough Hall to watch the meeting were outnumbered by reporters and officials. The meeting did not include comments from the public. It was brief but dramatic.

A motion to pay the borough's bills failed on a 3-3 vote after an argument erupted, and the meeting ended with two council members storming from the room. This one, like most arguments at Colwyn meetings, centered on management of the borough over the last few years.

And though the exact nature of the county detectives' investigation is unknown, many of the records handed over to investigators are records from that period.

Records that Paula Brown, the new borough manager, turned over to detectives include computer hard drives and bank statements with copies of checks that Councilwoman Tonette Pray signed to her husband and other receipts she approved.

Pray, who declined an interview, has said Brown is unfairly targeting her.

"I'm willing to work with anyone but I am really not here to be abused," Pray said at a Feb. 12 council meeting.

For her part, Brown is not afraid to speak out and participate in the screaming matches at council meetings. After Thursday's meeting, she said she would consider making the bill payments that the council failed to authorize.

"What am I going to do, get in trouble for paying the bills?" Brown said. "This is ridiculous."

A financial recovery plan for Colwyn will also need to address its governance issues, according to Jonathan Hendrickson, a representative from the state Department of Community and Economic Development who has met with borough officials about the Act 47 program.

Councilman Fred Lesher said spending must be dramatically reduced in the "four-block, simple town," where residents struggle to afford their taxes.

But the arguing and chaotic council meetings are unlikely to end soon.

"That's all part of it," Lesher said.

$2.1M

2015 budget

$1.2M

current unfunded debt

18%

Amount of uncollected property taxes

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