Luzerne County Council starts whittling down 2021 budget

In their first crack at 2021 budget cuts on Monday, a Luzerne County Council majority lowered three allocations to save a combined $19,000 but tabled others, including a decision on whether non-union raises would be funded.

The proposed $154.65 million general fund operating budget would keep taxes at 6.1696 mills, which equates to a payment of $616.96 on a $100,000 property.

Councilman Walter Griffith proposed the amendments discussed Monday and argued the 1.5% raises should be eliminated because the county had provided funding for 2% raises this year and 3% in 2019.

However, a council majority agreed with Councilwoman Sheila Saidman’s proposal to table a vote on raises until all departments have presented their proposed budgets.

Saidman stressed during the virtual meeting she was not yet taking any position on whether the raises should be eliminated, reduced or granted in full but argued it would be more “fiscally responsible” to first examine the entire budget.

Only four of the 11 council members opposed the tabling: Griffith, Harry Haas, Linda McClosky Houck and Stephen J. Urban.

The allocations for raises would be $90,210 for non-union workers under county Manager C. David Pedri’s supervision, $90,249 for court branches, $12,770 for the district attorney’s office and $2,047 for the controller’s office, Pedri has said.

Union workers will receive a combined $322,938 in raises next year under their collective bargaining agreements, not including detectives still in contract negotiations, he has said.

Amid discussions about cuts, Griffith said he believes the manager and department heads did a great job trimming budget requests in many areas, but he still sees some room for further reductions. He also said he appreciates the budget does not raise taxes but wants to show taxpayers the county is as conservative as possible.

Expressing support for most of Griffith’s suggestions, Haas said he was “hard-pressed” to find many places to cut so far this year because the budget appears to be “very lean” and “very tight.”

Budget cuts

Council unanimously reduced the conflict counsel’s allocation for stenographic services from $7,500 to $5,000.

Griffith maintained $5,000 should be enough based on historical spending for these services. Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo said the conflict counsel department, which falls under her law division, often handles complex cases and is expecting an influx in 2021.

Six council members approved the second amendment reducing the budget/finance contractual services allocation by $11,500 for a new total $530,000.

County Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz said he had provided an exact breakdown of all providers and their cost to document the reason for the initial request. He also said it’s a “little disheartening” to hear comments that the administration is not tightening its belt or doing enough.

Voting in support of this cut were McClosky Houck, LeeAnn McDermott, Kendra Radle, Urban, Griffith and Haas.

Council unanimously approved a $5,000 cut for machinery and equipment in probation services, leaving $10,000.

It was not a contentious decision. Court Administrator Paul Hindmarsh told council he further reviewed the suggested cut and did not oppose it.

Compromise

A majority of council members approved Griffith’s suggestion to reduce the amount of money set aside to pay assessment appeal refunds by $75,000, but they moved the $75,000 to the budget reserve instead of eliminating it entirely.

Council Chairman Tim McGinley said the reserve option ensures the funding is still available if big-ticket refunds increase as projected by the administration. Council approval is required to move money out of the reserve.

Pedri told council he had proposed increasing the refund allocation from $525,000 to $600,000 based largely on the return of several larger properties to the tax rolls due to the expiration of tax breaks. He expects these property owners will challenge the assessments on their decade-old buildings.

The county spent $310,000 this year on refunds to date, but Swetz said this year’s $525,000 allocation must cover all refunds awarded until next year’s tax bills are issued, which usually occurs in February.

Postponed

Council held off on some of Griffith’s proposed cuts in the judicial services and records division and correctional system to give impacted managers an opportunity to respond. Council may vote on them at its next meeting on Nov. 24.

Another tabled item was Griffith’s suggestion to reduce the Luzerne County Transportation Authority’s allocation by $180,037. Griffith said this figure represents the amount provided to Hazleton Transit, and he argued taking that money away from the county authority could force the authority to team up with Hazleton Transit to form a joint entity providing public busing service more efficiently countywide. He also asserted the county authority has funds in reserve that could be used to cover the cut in its county match.

Council unanimously agreed to table the matter to obtain a response from the county transportation authority. Concerns also were raised that a cut in the county match could jeopardize the authority’s receipt of state funding.

A few of Griffith’s proposals were rejected, and he withdrew a proposal to cut $3,000 from the district attorney’s office supplies budget line.

Saidman said District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis has been “very close” in prior budget requests and does not appear to include a “cushion.” In response, Griffith pulled back the motion, saying he does not believe $3,000 would “make a big difference” overall.

During public comment, citizens Mark Rabo, Jason Carr and Richard Manta urged county officials to cancel any requested non-union raises for 2021 due to continued struggles related to the coronavirus pandemic.