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Unable to force public to pay $41 this year, officials to alter 2010 gypsy-moth plan to recoup losses.
Luzerne County tried to get people to pay for gypsy moth spraying, but fewer than half have coughed up the $41 per-parcel fee to date.
But the county’s hands are tied in forcing payment this year because all properties were sprayed in late May and early June, regardless of whether property owners paid the fee.
The initial March billing letter said properties wouldn’t be sprayed if the owners don’t pay, but county Recreation Director Andy Gegaris said the county later learned that the state would deviate from the original spraying plan only if someone had an environmental objection.
“The state wouldn’t remove someone because of failure to pay,” Gegaris said.
About six properties were removed because of environmental objections, he said.
County officials plan to rectify this next year by hiring a contractor who is willing to alter the spraying plan by skipping over properties that don’t pay a fee.
The county will keep a list of property owners who don’t pay the 2009 fee, and those owners must pay the $41 and next year’s still-undetermined fee if they want their land sprayed in 2010, Gegaris said.
“Otherwise, it would not be fair to the folks who paid this year,” he said.
County commissioners implemented the fee to recoup the cost of spraying. If everyone pays, the county would receive $131,200. The county paid the state about $142,000 to spray 7,096 acres in 19 municipalities.
Bills for gypsy moth spraying were issued to 3,200 Luzerne County property owners in March.
As of Monday afternoon, the county treasurer’s office had received $46,043 from 1,123 properties.
Gegaris said he still has to deposit another 100 or more payments that resulted from a second billing reminder on July 18 to 1,805 property owners. He’s confident that more payments will come in by the Aug. 17 deadline listed in the reminder.
The state was only willing to spray sections over 23 acres, so the county will seek someone willing to spray smaller plots next year to accommodate property owners who requested the spraying but were ineligible in the past, Gegaris said.
Gegaris said the fee, though frustrating, is still “significantly” less than the amount property owners would pay to obtain spraying on their own.