Earlier we reported that the PBA Sues City of Mount Vernon for Violating City Charter & Delaying Arbitration Process – Black Westchester Magazine. The Mount Vernon Police Benevolent Association filed a complaint against the Mount Vernon Department of Finance and Comptroller Dr. Darren Morton, with accusations of violating the City Charter by not completing the required financial audits which is causing a huge delay in our arbitration process.

A few hours after we ran the story Dr. Morton contacted Black Westchester with a statement of his own to address the matter;

We are eager to settle the PBA contract. We are not using the lack of financial information to delay entering into an agreement. It is not true that we have failed to issue quarterly reports in the last two years. The 2022 Q4 report issued in March 2023 is a full accounting of the 2022 fiscal year, so there was no need to provide a separate report. Attached is a link to all the quarterly reports prepared and available to the public since my election to the Office of Comptroller in January 2022. With regards to the independent audits, they had been outstanding since 2016 upon my election to this office. Since January 2022, we have issued the 2016 audit, immediately begin working on 2017 and continue to work with our independent auditor to complete the subsequent years.
 
City of Mount Vernon Quarterly Reports | Mount Vernon, NY (cmvny.com) (https://www.cmvny.com/619/City-of-Mount-Vernon-Quarterly-Reports)

We have used this information to provide the PBA with several financial scenarios for pay increases. Unfortunately, we have not come to an agreement that would satisfy the PBA and be financially responsible. While my office would rather come to a settlement and avoid arbitration, we are not making excuses to avoid arbitration. Our goal is to get to a resolution that is amenable to PBA and the City without excessive burden on taxpayers.

Comptroller Morton discusses the status of the city’s finances during his Financial State of the City Interview on People Before Politics Radio, Sunday, April 16, 2023.

The Mount Vernon Police Department has been without a contract since 2017 and is the lowest-paid police department in Westchester County.

Stay tuned to Black Westchester for more on the developing story.