‘Inevitable’: Majority of commissioners pass budget and approve 33% tax hike

SCRANTON — Lackawanna County Democratic majority commissioners approved a nearly 33% property tax increase Wednesday, passing a 2025 budget that their finance director called “unavoidable.”

The surge was made inevitable by a structural deficit that has widened sharply in recent years as spending growth has outpaced revenue growth.

And it was made inevitable by previous administrations that depleted the district’s accumulated fund balance and relied on one-time revenue sources to balance budgets as structural deficits grew.

The result, unpalatable to those who approved it and to those who begged them not to do so, was a tough cure: a significant increase the likes of which county taxpayers had not seen since a 37.5% increase in 2012. The upcoming increase will increase the county’s total property tax rate from 67.67 to 89.98 mills, with $1 representing a tax of $1 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and will cost the typical Scranton residential property owner about $201 more.

Democratic Majority Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin approved the increase Wednesday, passing a $167 million 2025 spending plan over the objections of Republican Minority Commissioner Chris Cermak. The vote followed a lengthy public comment period rife with taxpayer opposition.

Many of the speakers expressed genuine concerns about what the increase would mean for vulnerable residents, including seniors, people on fixed incomes and those facing high consumer prices and other economic challenges. Some were encouraged by an alternative budget proposal put forward by Cermak that called for a much smaller tax increase of just 6.3%, although that plan was marred by inaccuracies and other problems.

Gaughan and McGloin again criticized Cermak’s proposal as deeply flawed and dishonest; Chief Financial Officer David Bulzoni admitted it was not viable.

The passion that many speakers displayed in opposing tax increases was sometimes undermined by an apparent lack of understanding of the county’s underlying financial problems, their causes, and the functions of county government more broadly.

The district entered 2024 with more than $18 million in unpaid bills and a general fund of only about $6 million. This year, officials faced the very real threat of running out of money, and they managed to avoid it. They also faced the prospect of a structural deficit of about $37 million next year, an amount officials have reduced to about $29 million through cuts and other corrective measures.

The nearly 33% increase would help eliminate a projected $29 million structural deficit and, according to Bulzoni and others, end the practice of relying on one-time revenue sources and declining fund balances to cover operating deficits.

Cermak, who tried in vain to reschedule Wednesday’s budget vote, said doing so amounted to commissioners abdicating their responsibility to protect the financial well-being of taxpayers.

“This tax increase comes at a time when our constituents are already struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “The cost of living has increased dramatically over the past few years. Food, fuel, utilities are now more expensive than ever. School districts and municipalities are raising taxes, some of which have already done so. This only adds to the burden on our taxpayers.”

On the other hand, Gaughan described the tax hike budget as the product of “a perfect storm of years of incompetence and willful neglect” that preceded his and McGloin’s time in office. Gaughan has paired Cermak, a second-term commissioner, with previous officials whom he claims share blame for the current financial woes.

“No one had the courage to address the issues directly and be honest with the public because it could hurt them politically,” Gaughan said. “And we all know, whether we want to admit it or not, that here in Lackawanna County, in Pennsylvania and across the country, sometimes politicians are more worried about their chances of re-election than they are about the truth and the hard facts. “

He called Wednesday’s decision “painful but necessary.”

“The numbers don’t lie,” Gaughan said. “When they are accurate, they tell the truth. Numbers also do not run for public office. The numbers themselves do not favor any political constituency. The truths they speak cannot be changed by political preferences. … I truly believe that this budget fairly and accurately assesses and accounts for the financial condition of Lackawanna County government fairly and accurately.”

Among other things, the enacted budget eliminates about 90 unfilled positions and freezes wages for non-union workers, who will have to pay higher copays and health insurance deductibles next year. It also provides about $7.9 million in funding for county pensions and significantly reduces budgeted overtime in some departments.

While McGloin says tax increases are inevitable, he said he understands taxpayers’ frustrations.

Outside Scranton, the increase would increase tax bills for a typical property owner in Jessup by about $179, in Moscow by about $324 and in Clarks Summit by about $380, among other examples. These calculations are based on the average assessed home values ​​in these municipalities; the actual increase will vary depending on the individual property owner’s assessment.

“I don’t want to make anyone’s life any harder, and while I really don’t like it, please believe me when I say there is no other way,” McGloin told the crowd. “When I took office on January 2, the last thing I thought we would have to do was raise taxes like this, but the fact of the matter is none of us could have known what that position was. the county was inside. And how could we?

“We’ve been lied to, you’ve been lied to, we’ve all been lied to for years—horribly lied to,” he continued. “But it is the administration that stops all this.”