At a chaotic news conference Tuesday, Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak proposed amendments that he says would balance the proposed 2025 county budget with spending cuts, a smaller tax hike and a large one-time revenue source.
Chermak’s budget would raise the county property tax by 6.3% instead of the 33% hike proposed Oct. 15 by commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin in their 2025 budget.
Chermak spoke inside the Electric City Trolley Museum surrounded by what he called volunteers who conducted “a deeper analysis” of the budget. The Republican commissioner called his Democratic colleagues' larger tax hike “neither sustainable nor warranted.”
“A tax increase of this magnitude places a heavy financial burden on every taxpayer in Lackawanna County,” he said. “Raising taxes should always be the last resort, and before making such a decision, we have an obligation to exhaust every other possible option.”
He chastised McGloin and Gaughan for proposing an ice-skating rink on Courthouse Square and spending $25,000 on new cameras for the commissioners’ conference room.
He called both “unnecessary expenses at this time when we should be tightening our belts.”
“More concerning is the Democrat majority truly believes they are on the right path forward, which is absolutely incorrect,” he said.
In an interview afterward, Gaughan and McGloin, who attended Chermak’s unveiling, called his budget “full of lies.”
The median value of county real estate is $11,000. A property owner with a home valued that much owed $744.37 this year.
Under Gaughan and McGloin’s proposal, the property tax would rise from 67.67 to 89.98 mills, putting just the county tax bill at $989.78 next year, a $245.41 increase, about $20 a month. This total does not include school district or city, borough or township taxes, which the county does not control, a $47.10 increase, about $3.93 a month. Gaughan and McGloin said their 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.
Chermak’s ideas would reduce the Democrats’ proposed spending from $167.1 million to $158.76 million.
Chermak said his plan would:
- Keep the county arts and culture tax the same. The commissioner said he favors supporting the arts but raising that tax now is wrong.
- Save about $725,000 by eliminating 18 part-time jobs and another $4.5 million by eliminating another 42 full-time jobs.
- Slash departmental spending by another $4.5 million.
- Use $17 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money to balance the budget. This is a one-time revenue. The county’s financial consultant and a major bond rating company have blamed county deficits partly on the frequent use of one-time revenues. Chermak said it would buy time to find more cuts next year.
- Restore $200,000 in spending for the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter, add $421,000 to give non-union staff a 2.5% pay increase and increase the sheriff’s office overtime budget by $750,000.
The Gaughan-McGloin budget calls for no pay hike for non-union staff and slashes deputy sheriff overtime.
When Chermak offered to take questions, Gaughan shouted the available rescue plan money was only about $7 million, not $17 million.
That angered Len Dobrzyn, 69, of Blakely, one of Chermak’s volunteers with a background in finance.
“Commissioner, I'm calling you out,” he said, pointing at Gaughan. “Then you come and you sit in with us, and we'll all have a powwow together.”
Gaughan tried to interrupt.
“Hold on,” Dobrzyn continued. “Let me finish. I'm talking. I would like you guys to come in and sit with us and take the time (and) the things you deem important … What you're really saying (is) it’s not important to you.”
When Dobrzyn finished, Gaughan asked about eliminating the postage.
“How the hell is anybody going to send any mail out of the county building?” he asked. “That's one stupid example that I just read in here.”
Talk like that infuriated another taxpayer, who identified himself only as a business owner. He ripped into Gaughan for failing to realize a 33% tax hike might put him and others out of business.
“Now you're calling everybody stupid, dumb. That's a dumb idea. That's a stupid idea. Sit down at a round table and get this straightened out,” he shouted before stomping away.
Afterward, Gaughan and McGloin renewed their criticism. Gaughan pointed out Chermak’s cuts included badly needed new staff in the troubled county Office of Youth and Family Services.
“He essentially wants to defund all those positions and put children in Lackawanna County in danger. He was a part of an administration where they lost the license in OYFS,” he said. “We've been trying to restore it.”
The state has placed the agency on a provisional license, but has not revoked it.
McGloin pointed out Chermak is in his fifth year in office.
“It took him five years to stand up here today and admit that we had a financial problem. Five years he lied to the 220,000 residents that we have here in Lackawanna County. It's an absolute disgrace,” he said.
Gaughan, who promised to review Chermak’s plan in more detail, accused him of staging “a political sideshow” a week before Election Day.
Chermak’s audience included a current state representative candidate and at least one political operative. A truck with campaign signs parked outside the museum beforehand.
Chermak denied a political motivation.
"That's not what it was supposed to be,” he said. “That just shows you how angry people are … I don't think any of this chaos would have happened if he didn't jump up and call me a liar, and started screaming and acting like a moron.”
The commissioners must pass the 2025 budget by Dec. 2, a county spokesman said.
A budget hearing is scheduled for noon today in the commissioners’ meeting room on the county Government Center’s fifth floor.
