Faced with a whopping potential budget deficit, the majority Lackawanna County commissioners proposed raising property taxes Tuesday by almost a third next year.
County commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin, both Democrats, said the 33% tax hike would eliminate annual deficits that degraded the county’s bond rating and forced borrowing to finish this year. The county faced a $28 million 2025 shortfall as budget meetings began, Gaughan said.
He also did not rule out employee layoffs.
“Every option is on the table,” he said.
Commissioner Chris Chermak, the lone Republican on the Board of Commissioners, called the budget “a disgrace.” He promised an alternative.
The property tax would rise 33% from 67.67 mills to 89.98 mills and would help balance a $167.1 million spending plan. That’s about $4.5 million more than the county expects to spend this year.
The median value of county real estate is $11,000. A property owner with a home valued that much owed $744.37 this year and would owe $989.78 next year, a $245.41 difference, about $20 a month.
“No one takes joy in a significant tax increase,” Gaughan said.
He directly blamed the budget woes on previous commissioners who for a decade relied on budget surpluses and other one-time revenue sources to balance budgets. Previous commissioners also failed to contribute properly to the pension plan, and account for expenses that rose 79% since 2012 as revenues only went up 27%, Gaughan said.
“The previous commissioners did all this despite repeated warnings from their own chief financial officers that their course was unsustainable. Instead of listening to sound financial advice, they decided to play politics, a complete dereliction of duty,” Gaughan said.
He mocked the previous administrations for celebrating past balanced budget with no tax hikes that relied on the questionable methods.
“And they're standing up at a podium like this, and (saying), ‘We're not raising your taxes, woohoo,’ and they're not telling people the reality of the situation,” Gaughan said.
The county entered 2024 with $18.5 million in unpaid bills and only $6 million to pay them. The commissioners plan to authorize borrowing up to $12 million to close the gap. Gaughan said.
S&P Global Ratings downgraded the county’s bond rating in September 2023 and June, citing the recurring annual budget deficits and reliance on one-time revenues.
Since taking office, McGloin and Gaughan have scrapped plans for a costly Department of Health; hired a consultant to closely scrutinize the county’s finances; hired a consultant to invest tax dollars before they’re spent; froze the hiring of new, non-essential personnel; froze the salaries of non-union staff and cut deputy sheriffs overtime by $1.25 million.
McGloin said non-union employees won’t get raises next year and will begin paying higher health insurance co-payments and deductibles.
“This is what happens when you have people prior not accepting the fact that you have a fiduciary responsibility in this role to do what's right,” he said. “And they simply didn't do that. And it's now fallen on to us, and at the end of the day, we're simply trying to fix the problem for the working, families and … roughly 220,000 residents here in Lackawanna County. “
The 2025 budget also eliminates 90 full- and part-time jobs that were never filled. Gaughan claimed that would save $2.6 million, but the money for the jobs was still spent this year on other things.
The two Democratic commissioners presented the budget as theirs and did not invite Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak to join their announcement.
Chermak stood nearby and watched the budget presentation with his solicitor, attorney Paul LaBelle.
Gaughan said Chermak participated in budget meetings and hearings but had offered no substantive changes.
“We are still waiting for Commissioner Chermak and his team, who has met with our CFO to provide their alternative budget to this,” Gaughan said.
He chided Chermak for repeatedly saying he would vote against a tax hike despite the need to balance the budget.
“Show us how you do that if you're not willing to raise taxes, which we know is the reality,” Gaughan said. “And if he can do that … We would love to see what the alternatives are.”
Chermak acknowledged attending the budget meetings and hearings.
He questioned the Department of Health savings because most of its employees remain with the county in other roles and the savings from eliminating vacant jobs.
“This is the first time I'm seeing the 2025 preliminary budget,” he said. “So, like I've done every other year, we're going to take that and we're going to compare it to the things that we've been doing.”
He won’t vote for the proposed budget, he said.
“It's a disgrace,” he said.
Lackawanna County Tax Rates | Percentage | |
Year | Millage Rate | Hike |
1992 | 15.7293 | |
1993 | 20.7293 | 31.79% |
1994 | 20.7293 | 0.00% |
1995 | 20.7293 | 0.00% |
1996 | 20.7293 | 0.00% |
1997 | 25.7293 | 24.12% |
1998 | 25.7293 | 0.00% |
1999 | 25.7293 | 0.00% |
2000 | 25.7293 | 0.00% |
2001 | 29.7293 | 15.55% |
2002 | 29.7293 | 0.00% |
2003 | 29.7293 | 0.00% |
2004 | 29.7293 | 0.00% |
2005 | 44.1293 | 48.44% |
2006 | 42.098 | -4.60% |
2007 | 39.9998 | -4.98% |
2008 | 39.9998 | 0.00% |
2009 | 39.9998 | 0.00% |
2010 | 39.9998 | 0.00% |
2011 | 39.9998 | 0.00% |
2012 | 55 | 37.50% |
2013 | 57.42 | 4.40% |
2014 | 57.42 | 0.00% |
2015 | 57.42 | 0.00% |
2016 | 57.42 | 0.00% |
2017 | 57.42 | 0.00% |
2018 | 57.42 | 0.00% |
2019 | 57.42 | 0.00% |
2020 | 63.92 | 11.32% |
2021 | 63.92 | 0.00% |
2022 | 63.92 | 0.00% |
2023 | 67.67 | 5.87% |
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