Stormwater and levee fee reductions possible with Luzerne County funding windfall

Luzerne County could use its $112.9 million American Rescue Plan windfall to reduce a controversial stormwater fee, possibly cut the Wyoming Valley Levee fee and bolster small businesses.

That message was delivered by the county administration to council during a late-night work session Tuesday, after a council majority voted to advance but not finalize an ordinance spending approximately $46 million of the federal funding — 40% — to provide a nearly $600 real estate tax rebate for owner-occupied primary residences.

The rebate ordinance would require a public hearing and final majority passage at a future meeting to take effect. Several council members said they still have questions about whether a one-time rebate for 77,000 property owners is the best use of the money when all options are still unknown.

Federal guidelines on allowable uses won’t be finalized until September.

The American Rescue funding is a “hard to imagine” sum and the “largest fiscal jolt the county budget will receive in decades,” county Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo told council. She urged everyone to “step back” and “breathe” before locking in plans.

“The decisions that council makes will determine whether Luzerne County merely enjoys a brief stimulus or provides the seeds for a trajectory of countywide inclusive economic growth,” Crocamo said.

Fund recipients don’t have to commit to a plan until the end of 2024 and have until the end of 2026 to spend the money. Other requests for the county funding also are starting to trickle in.

The county received $56.4 million, but the other half is not expected to arrive until May 2022, Crocamo said. The homestead rebate spearheaded by Councilman Harry Haas would come out of the current half, using up more than 81%, she said.

Some highlights of the administration’s proposal:

Rainwater projects

The county would complete projects to reduce stormwater fees by a percentage not yet estimated for property owners in municipalities participating in regional pollution reduction compliance programs managed by the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority and Dallas Area Municipal Authority.

These projects would address drainage issues along much of the 125 miles of county-owned roadways and reduce pollutants washing into waterways through vegetated swales, the installation of catch basins and replacement of deteriorated and undersized pipes that cause street pooling and flooding during heavy rain, officials said.

Operational Services Division Head Edmund O’Neill said these drainage problems reduce the lifespan of county roadways and add to the cost of road reconstruction projects. American Rescue funding cannot be used for road paving or bridge repairs, officials said.

“This will all help with water runoff, which is one of the major problems we have in why our roads deteriorate as quickly as they do,” O’Neill told council.

He conservatively estimated the drainage work would cost about $75,000 per mile, which would equate to $9.4 million. However, O’Neill said not all roadways would require the drainage work.

Levee work

The council-appointed Flood Protection Authority that oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee along the Susquehanna River did not receive an American Rescue allocation and requested up to $8 million of the county’s share for equipment and work related to the 16-mile flood-control system, including pump station upgrades.

Authority board Chairman Dominic Yannuzzi told council it will assess how much the levee fee may decrease if the county provides some or all of the funding.

“If you want council to consider some of these things, you should be looking at a fee reduction,” council Chairman Tim McGinley told Yannuzzi. “Part of the philosophy here is to help our residents, and 14,000 people are paying the levee fee.”

Small business

Regional economic development organization Penn’s Northeast is surveying small businesses that received a share of the county’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to determine their needs for assistance as they emerge from the pandemic, said county Community Development Director Andrew Reilly.

“Then, based on those responses, we hope to design a program that will assist those businesses to move forward post-pandemic.”

Lost revenue

American Rescue funds may be used for government services in the dollar amount of revenue lost from 2019 to 2020, when the pandemic hit, officials said.

County Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz conservatively projected that figure will be up to $6 million based on audit figures.

Crocamo said the administration will finalize a proposed spending plan for council consideration when the final spending parameters are issued.

“The ultimate goal is to lessen the hardship on Luzerne County residents while at the same time providing a tangible improvement that will span for years to come,” Crocamo said.