Farrell City Council set a precedent this past week that could end up costing the city taxpayers a lot of money in future years.

Council approved the payment of about $5,000 for 2009 vacation time to Farrell public works director Gerald “Bugs” Multari, who is retiring on Dec. 31 of this year. This would be vacation money for time he hadn’t yet worked, not time he had accrued in the year.

The controversial decision wasn’t unanimous, with Louis Falconi, Eugene Pacsi, Stephanie Sheffield and Rudolph Hammond voting in favor of the payment. Mayor Olive McKeithan voted no, while Robert Burich and the Rev. Jeannette Hubbard abstained.

The mayor, in casting her negative vote, said, “I voted no because I thought it was the right thing to do.”

She’s right. It was the right thing to do, and possibly the legal thing to do. You can’t have city councils anywhere just handing out money that people don’t earn. Unless it was stipulated somewhere in city contracts, or previously agreed upon as terms of employment, council should not award money for vacation time that hasn’t been earned.

It’s bad enough that public entities like municipalities and school districts allow employees to build up sick time and receive payment when they retire. But to pay for vacation time that was never granted in the past, sets a precedent that taxpayers certainly won’t appreciate.

Upset by two council persons abstaining, Falconi said that only conflicts of interest should warrant shying away from voting “yes” or “no.” But one of the conflicts should be friendships that have built up over the years between long-time city employees and multiple-term officials. That is a problem in every small town.

Pacsi initiated the issue that led to a closed-door session to discuss it on the advice of city solicitor Stephen Mirizio. While it was a personnel issue and discussions were hush-hush, we’re confident that any solicitor would advise against the granting of such payment.

Since Farrell is labeled as “distressed” under the state’s Act 47, this move is sure to throw up a red flag with state monitors. In fact, the legality might be something to be looked into by the state Attorney General’s office.

Regardless, the council made a mistake in giving away taxpayers’ money. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Council, unless it changes its decision, has opened a door that can’t be shut.

In the future, every city retiree would deserve payment for undeserved vacation time or the city could face discrimination lawsuits.

It’s a poor decision that’s probably going to end up costing the taxpayers a lot of money.