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Hazleton residents trash garbage-fee rates
HAZLETON – City Council didn’t discuss Mayor Lou Barletta’s 2010 budget proposal at Thursday night’s meeting, but it did address comments from citizens who complained about a proposed garbage fee increase noted in the plan.
The budget, put together by Acting City Administrator Mary Ellen Lieb and released to the council clerk on Monday, proposes raising real estate taxes from 1.40 mills to 2.38 mills – a $98 increase for every $100,000 in assessed property value – an earned income tax hike from 1.9 percent to 2.25 percent, and increasing the annual garbage collection fee from $208 to $240.
The income tax hike is necessary for the city to meet its minimum municipal obligation to the pension fund as required by state law. And the real estate tax hike was necessary to balance the budget and meet contractual obligations, even though the proposal factors in savings from layoffs of some city employees, Lieb had said.
Layoffs, tax hikes part of Hazleton plans
HAZLETON – A homeowner in the city with a $30,000-per-year job and a home valued at $100,000 could expect to pay another $235 in taxes and fees next year, according to a budget proposal Mayor Lou Barletta released to council on Monday.
Freeland losing 225 workers
FREELAND – About 225 employees at Garland Commercial Industries, by far Freeland’s largest employer, were told Monday that Garland’s parent company has decided to close the manufacturing plant on July 1, 2010.
Man gets 12-25 in brutal beating of 71-year-old
WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Chester Muroski wanted to know why Giacomo Pisciotta went so far when he brutally beat a 71-year-old man with a bat and took $25 from his home.
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- Zola office rental cost comes under scrutiny
- Home rule stymies politics, says expert
- District acts on pool issue
- Eachus constituents eligible for gun buyback
- Municipal Mayors’ Races
- Hazleton postpones vote on constables
- Mayors debate illegal immigration
- Housing Authority member says he took bribes to pay for trip
- State police investigate armed robbery
- Another Barletta, Kanjorski face-off?
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Carney, Kanjorski report on coffers - Miners live on through his art
- Man charged with Hazleton arson
- Conahan, Scalleats tied for decades
- Barletta draws a bull’s-eye on bar
Hazleton Sports
Relay victory lifts Dallas over Hazleton
DALLAS – The 400 free relay team of Caitlyn Barry, McKenzie Kelley, Erin Fallon and Stacey Stepniak won the final event to give Dallas a 97-89 victory over Hazleton Area in Wyoming ...
Times Leader News
Health bill might go nowhere in Senate
WASHINGTON — The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Barack Obama on Sunday as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House has nowh ...
Most Viewed Hazleton Times Stories in Past 7 Days
1. Freeland losing 225 workers
2. Hazleton targeting gang issue
3. Zola office rental cost comes under scrutiny
4. Changing his tune to penance
5. Man gets 12-25 in brutal beating of 71-year-old
6. Election Bureau looks into violations
7. Hazleton residents trash garbage-fee rates
8. Miners live on through his art
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