Proposed Luzerne County budget won’t seek real estate tax hike

Luzerne County’s upcoming proposed 2024 general fund operating budget won’t request a real estate tax increase, officials said this week.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo, who started work as the county overseer May 25, had issued a directive to county division and department heads in early August informing them their total 2024 budgets should not exceed the amounts they were budgeted this year.

As a result, managers were instructed to find savings to cover any increases for personnel, inflation and new expenses, her directive said.

“Departments rose to the challenge,” Crocamo said Wednesday. “I believe it’s a very solid proposal.”

Crocamo described the pending budget as the “beginning of a journey” and said the administration is committed to pursuing further strategies that make operations more efficient and control costs.

“There’s more we can do in the future, and we’re addressing that,” she said.

County Acting Budget/Finance Division Head Mary Roselle told council Tuesday the administration plans to print the budget Friday with the expectation there won’t be a tax increase.

“We’ve been working very diligently with all of the division heads to make sure that is the case,” Roselle said during the work session.

Printed copies of the proposed budget will be distributed to council members at their next meeting Oct. 10, when the document is scheduled for introduction, Roselle said. It also will be posted online.

Public budget hearings will be held at 5 p.m. on Oct. 24 and Nov. 14 at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Council agreed Tuesday on the following schedule of budget work sessions:

• Oct. 24, following the 6 p.m. voting meeting — budget/finance, judicial services and records and general government

• Oct. 30, 5 p.m. — human services, administrative services and operational services

• Nov. 6, 5 p.m. — law division, public defender’s office and correctional services

• Nov. 14, following the 6 p.m. voting meeting — controller’s office, district attorney’s office and courts

The budget adoption is slated for the Dec. 5 meeting.

Crocamo had said the expense freeze was recommended to “continue to deliver efficient and effective services to our constituents without compromising our financial integrity.”

“While it is never an easy task to plan for and implement budget expense freezes, I firmly believe that this decision is necessary to ensure the long-term stability and sustainability of our organization,” she wrote.

The county millage rate is 6.3541. To figure out the tax payment, property owners must divide their assessed value by 1,000 and multiply it by the millage rate. For example, the owner of a $100,000 property pays $635.41 in county taxes.

Current budget

Overall, the county received $134.8 million through the end of August, or 83% of this year’s $161.8 million general fund operating budget, Roselle told council Tuesday.

On the expense side, the county spent $85.48 million, or 52%, according to the report included in council’s Tuesday work session agenda, posted at luzernecounty.org.

“So we’re in good shape at this point,” said Roselle, a veteran county employee with an accounting/finance degree and MBA in finance who started as acting budget/finance head when Brian Swetz left for another position Aug. 24.

Roselle told council members she included a more detailed accounts payable report in their monthly budget presentation.

This new version itemizes all payments so council can better track how money is being spent, said Roselle, noting her office will provide additional information if council members have any questions about specific entries.

In other updates, Roselle said the county has earned $2.9 million in interest to date on federal American Rescue Plan Act funding that remains in county coffers until it is disseminated to approved applicants as they submit required paperwork. The interest earnings make more funding available for council allocation.

Budget/finance also has been contacting all banks handling county deposits to ensure the county is receiving the highest available interest rate, Roselle said. Some institutions agreed to higher rates based on the inquiry, while others are working on options with the county, she said.