Thick binders containing the proposed 2026 Luzerne County budget sit before council members during Tuesday’s meeting, when the administration’s recommended spending plan was formally presented. From left are four of the 11 council members: Jimmy Sabatino, Greg Wolovich, Chris Perry and Patty Krushnowski.
Jennifer Learn-Andes | Times Leader
Luzerne County’s proposed 2026 budget is now in the hands of county council because the administration formally introduced it during Tuesday’s meeting.
The budget recommends a 1.9% real estate tax increase, which equates to $12 more per year on a residence assessed at the median $95,500, the administration has said.
Departments will publicly present their requests and answer council questions during upcoming budget sessions, and council is free to make changes before the Dec. 15 budget adoption deadline.
“I look forward to robust discussion with council,” county Manager Romilda Crocamo said Tuesday.
The budget sessions will be added to existing meetings under the following schedule:
• Oct. 28: budget and finance division, administrative services division, general government and court branches
• Nov. 10: district attorney’s office, judicial services and records division, operational services division and controller’s office
• Nov. 25: law division, public defender’s office, correctional services division and human services division
Crocamo has cited three “major expense drivers” prompting the tax hike — $1.4 million for employee health insurance, $1.5 million to cover additional expenses of adding an eleventh county Court of Common Pleas judge to be elected Nov. 4 and $1.5 million for increased county prison system expenses, such as union wages, overtime and inmate medical care.
During public comment, Hazleton resident Mark Rabo reiterated his regular plea urging the county to push the state to comply with past state Supreme Court orders to fund all court-related employees.
Crocamo said she will seek increased funding but stressed other counties would have to participate because one county “can’t do it alone.”
It’s possible a twelfth county judge will be added in 2027 due to court caseloads, Crocamo added.
Council Chairman John Lombardo said he and other council members have been pressing state legislators for increased court reimbursement for personnel costs, and they are “just as frustrated as everyone else” that additional funding has not materialized.
Airport allocation
Council unanimously voted Tuesday to earmark an additional $451,089 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for capital improvements at the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort and Wyoming.
This funding is available because past allocations for two other internal county projects were withdrawn.
Separate from the new allocation, council had previously allocated $7 million in American Rescue funds for the pending projects at the 110-acre airport, including new hangars and aviation fuel facility.
County grants writer Michele Sparich, who has served as acting operational services division head, recently told council estimates indicate an additional $2 million could be needed to complete the project as designed. The administration said it plans to seek approximately $1 million through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation to close the lion’s share of the remaining project funding gap.
American Rescue projects must be completed by the end of 2026 to comply with federal regulations.
Capital funds
An ordinance was introduced Tuesday that would infuse the county’s capital budget with $1.382 million to cover projects that council had approved for 2026.
The largest portion — $1 million — would come from interest earnings on American Rescue funds, while the remaining $382,000 is from the reserve.
A public hearing and council majority vote would be required at a future meeting for the ordinance to take effect.
Fee increase
Council unanimously enacted an ordinance on Tuesday that will increase fees for paper and digital maps generated by the county GIS, Planning, and Zoning Department.
The fee increase — the first in nearly eight years — is necessary to generate revenue to cover rising material, software and labor costs and will take effect at the start of 2026, the administration said.
The fee changes are posted in the agenda at luzernecounty.org.
Opioid earmark
In another unanimous decision, council approved a $54,000 opioid litigation settlement award to XT Enterprise, also known as RecoverU, a self-funded housing program that supports those recovering from substance use disorders.
The program “reduces overdose risk by creating a substance-free, highly accountable living environment,” the agenda said. XT Enterprise currently operates one licensed house and is in the process of licensing a second, with the eventual goal of establishing recovery housing throughout the county, it said.
Fountain repair
Council also authorized the administration to seek a $448,000 statewide casino gambling Local Share Account Grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to replace lighting at both Wilkes-Barre River Common levee portal openings and repair the inoperable fountain.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
