Indicators 2023: Data describe strength of nonprofit, government activity

WILKES-BARRE — Jill Avery-Stoss, COO of The Institute, this week said as pandemic recovery continues, ongoing data collection shows signs of community resilience.

Avery-Stoss said it is evident in areas such as nonprofit activity, for example. There were 2,344 tax-exempt organizations in the region as of 2022, with about 63% designated as 501c3 organizations. These organizations span a variety of activity areas, including arts, culture and humanities, education, environment, health, human services, and religion.

“Consider the presence of libraries and the important role they play in the community,” Avery-Stoss said. “They operate as nonprofits, and their number in the region has remained stable despite a recent statewide decline.”

Across the Commonwealth, library registration fell by over 546,000 from 2019 to 2021. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, however, there appeared to be an increase in use of public libraries during the pandemic; Lackawanna and Wayne Counties saw increases in 2020, while Luzerne County registrations remained essentially unchanged.

Avery-Stoss said the region’s libraries circulated more than 1.3 million items in 2021 — rebounding after significant declines in 2020.

The decline in statewide and regional circulation in 2020 is likely due to reduced availability or demand for physical materials due to the pandemic.

The increase in registration — but decline in circulation — may be a result of an increase in need for library services other than physical materials, such as computer and internet access, electronic information resources, or virtual programming.

“Some local government activities also point to fiscal resilience,” added Avery-Stoss. “As of 2020, Luzerne County’s total revenues grew by 13% to more than $274 million. Expenditures grew by a similar rate and county debt fell by more than $15 million from 2019 to 2020.”

Lackawanna County’s total revenues exceeded $235 million — a 39% jump that reversed a declining trend from 2017 to 2019. Expenditure rose by 56% from the prior year.

Avery-Stoss said these trends are due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased the need for certain government services and brought about new revenue through the CARES Act.

Wayne County’s revenue has grown each year since 2015, and 2020 brought the highest rate of growth — over 17% compared to 2019.

Avery-Stoss noted that trends in sales tax remittance are noteworthy as well. Remittance had generally trended upward from 2013 through 2019, reaching over $11 billion statewide in the 2018-2019 reporting year, though Luzerne County saw more significant fluctuations.

In 2019-2020, sales tax remittance dropped regionally and statewide due to disruptions in commerce caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The year-over-year declines in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne counties (6.8%, 5.8%, and 7.3%, respectively) were larger than the statewide decline of 2.5%,” Avery-Stoss said. “However, all areas have since experienced significant growth in sales tax remittance as economic activity resumed after shutdowns were lifted and since prices increased due to high inflation.”

Avery-Stoss said from the 2019-2020 tax year to the most recent data available, Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties and Pennsylvania saw increases of about 37%; in Wayne County, the increase was even larger at 58%.