All of Scranton's garbage trucks, DPW vehicles and fire trucks fuel up at the Department of Public Works headquarters in the city.
Nearly 6,000 gallons of diesel fuel is held there at any given time to keep those trucks running, but it turns out that the city of Scranton has not been paying for its fuel.
The company that sells the city fuel, Dunmore Oil Company, sent a letter to the mayor reminding him of a hefty balance, more than $200,000, and to say the company is very concerned about the city's ability to pay bills in the future.
Officials from Dunmore Oil told the city if the city doesn't start to pay, they will cut off services, meaning no more diesel fuel, and the credit cards Scranton police use to fill up around the city will stop working.
Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty said the fuel company isn't the only vendor the city contracts with that's questioning the city's finances. So many services are in limbo since the city is still waiting on a $16 million loan to pay the rest of the year's bills.
"They want to make sure they get paid. We've paid five months of bills this year. That's a lot of money. That $16 million you want to borrow gets bigger and bigger in terms of importance because it's part of the projected revenue for the remainder of the year," Doherty said.
The mayor will set up a payment plan for now until the loan comes through.
City councilman Pat Rogan said the backlash from city vendors is concerning, but the city should have the money on hand to pay its fuel bill
"Council just rejected bailing out the parking authority with nearly a million dollars, the bill for Dunmore Oil is only $200,000. The city's business administrator says we have the cash on hand to pay those bills," Rogan said.