Luzerne County acting manager working to whittle down budget

With only two more meetings remaining before the Dec. 13 budget adoption, Luzerne County Acting Manager Brian Swetz said he is working on possible cuts for council consideration.

Swetz said he will present his proposed budget amendments to council at Tuesday’s work session along with a summary of the total dollar amount that can be saved and the impact on the requested tax increase.

Several county council members had encouraged the administration to suggest cuts instead of relying on council-imposed ones that could have a more detrimental impact. While council adopts the budget under the home rule structure, it is not involved in daily operations and the inner workings of departments.

Swetz said he won’t be suggesting budget amendments that eliminate positions or prevent the county from paying down debt, meeting contractual obligations or fulfilling other mandatory services.

And though he expects to reduce the requested tax increase, Swetz cautioned nobody should expect an administrative plan to fully eliminate a requested tax increase in 2023.

Approximately $7.1 million in cuts or new revenue would have to be identified to avoid a proposed 6.75% increase, which equates to $55 more annually for the average property assessed at $132,776.

“This will be a good-faith effort to show the administration is moving in the right direction,” Swetz said.

Work session details

Tuesday’s work session follows a 5:30 p.m. voting meeting at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online meeting link at luzernecounty.org.

In addition to discussing possible budget alterations Tuesday, council is set to hear the final two budget presentations from the operational and administrative services divisions.

Operational services covers 911, the boiler plant, the emergency management agency and these departments: building/grounds, engineering, planning/zoning, road/bridge and solid waste.

Administrative services includes the election bureau and seven other departments: human resources, purchasing/acquisition, information technology, GIS/mapping, licensing/permits, community development and tourism.

The final scheduled meeting before the budget adoption is on Dec. 6.

Voting meeting

Council is set to vote on an annual short-term tax revenue anticipation loan of up to $14 million.

Swetz reminded council last week that the amount is a continued reduction from the $16 million required in 2021 and $18 million before that to cover expenses until real estate tax payments arrive.

Fidelity Bank submitted the lowest proposal, with a 3.611% interest rate, Swetz said. The county also has the option to repay the loan early without penalty, he noted.

The voting agenda also includes approval of a timeline and advertisement seeking three citizens to serve on the new manager search committee.

Election certification

The county’s volunteer, five-citizen Election Board has scheduled a meeting at 10 a.m. today to vote on certification of the Nov. 8 general election results.

This public meeting is at the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions to attend remotely are posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

Election board members have been reviewing a required reconciliation report compiled by the election bureau last week. This report logs the number of voters checked in at each polling place and the number of votes cast through ballot marking devices or ballot scanning that occurred later during the board’s adjudication process.

Paper provisional ballots and mail ballots are tracked separately.

An audit of at least 2% of the results also was performed as required, the bureau said. This audit involves hand-counting of several precincts to verify results match those recorded.

Before the certification vote, the board is expected to discuss impacts of a lack of proper-stock paper at polling places on Election Day.