Two Lackawanna County commissioner candidates said Thursday they would delay implementing new property values during reassessment, but the other said a delay could cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Democrat Thom Welby, Republican Chet Merli and independent Michael Cappellini debated mostly politely at the University of Scranton less than two weeks before the Nov. 4 special election for commissioner.
Each seeks to replace Commissioner Brenda Sacco, whose ascension to the seat Wednesday they also discussed.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Here is a rundown of key events in the commissioner-replacement saga over the course of this year.
On reassessment
New assessed property values are scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1.
Cappellini, a former real estate salesman and cigar brand ambassador from Jessup, said the county agreed to reassessment to settle a taxpayer lawsuit in 2022 and can’t back out because a court approved the settlement.
He accused Welby and Merli, who favor a pause, of mouthing “talking points in the political landscape” and “lying” to taxpayers by opposing implementation.
“If we're going to sit here and we're going to try to pause it, we have the potential of seeing millions of dollars in penalties that will hit the county, which will inevitably fall down to each and every person sitting in this room,” Cappellini said.
Merli, a retired utility manager from Blakely, said court orders “could be extended or appealed.”
The county failed to issue estimated tax rates with new values so property owners don’t know if their taxes will go up or down so many refrained from appealing values, he said.
“The reassessment was rushed, and it's left taxpayers frustrated and extremely confused,” he said.
Welby said he favors asking the taxpayers who sued to force reassessment to consider pausing the new values. A lawyer for the taxpayers has already rejected that idea.
“We have 4% who have appealed it, and (many others) haven’t appealed it because they don't understand it,” Welby said. “I have a next-door neighbor ... His current assessment is $16,000; his new assessment is $206,000. Sam has no idea what that means as to what his new tax bill is going to be. And that's not fair. It's not right.”
On replacing Brenda Sacco
The current administration did nothing to educate people on tax effects or how to appeal new values, he said.
County officials said they hosted more than a dozen public meetings and mailed values contained detailed information on appealing.
The candidates are fighting for a seat that Sacco said she hopes to keep until January 2028, when former Commissioner Matt McGloin’s term expires. County judges picked Sacco to replace McGloin until an election. She hasn’t ruled out a court fight to keep the seat.
One debate panelist asked if the candidates would go to court to ensure the election winner replaces Sacco.
Welby, a former state representative and legislative aide, said the court order appointing Sacco and limiting her term overrides other factors.
“To be clear, if I'm lucky enough to be elected, and the election is certified, I will be serving as county commissioner until the end of this term,” he said.
Cappellini, a former Democrat, said he would fight to keep the seat and pointed out he already testified in court to allow the special election to happen.
“So, if it does come to the point where there is some kind of challenge, I can promise you, immensely, that I am here to serve as your county commissioner and to ensure that the voice of the people is heard with the free and fair election,” he said.
Merli said he expects challenges, especially if he wins.
“And it just continually shows how Lackawanna County is broken. It's not about a Democrat versus Republican anymore,” he said. “It's just infighting within the party, and I certainly do not expect it to end anytime soon.”
On avoiding future tax hikes
Welby said he would seek to attract more industry, work closely with state legislators to bring home state money, find ways of cutting expenes and expand the county grant-writing staff.
Cappellini said he would focus on finding money for education to replace federal spending cuts, seek new development and take advantage of a planned Scranton-to-New York City passenger train.
Merli said he would use his budgetary experience to closely track costs monthly “line item by line item”; cut staff through attrition; consolidate duties in one person and cut overtime.
On regulating data centers
Cappellini said he would fight efforts to take away regulatory power from local zoning officials to avoid a "disastrous, disastrous environmental, economic, housing and socioeconomic problem.”
“We have to be the leaders in this,” he said.
Merli, chairman of the planning commission in Blakely where a data center was proposed, said he would fight to ensure any data center does not harm local water and electricity supplies.
Welby said he would flght to ensure that if a community opposes a data center “they should be allowed to block that data center.”
On developing affordable housing
Welby lamented out-of-town residents who buy up single-family homes, convert them to multi-unit dwellings and charge high rents.
“When anybody tries to put in a low-income housing project, it's ‘Not in my neighborhood,” Welby said. “We have to get past that and provide for housing that's genuinely affordable to the people that are in need.”
Cappellini said producing sustainable jobs will make housing more affordable.
“This is a region that's attracting new business. We have to ensure that we bring younger families into this area,” he said.
Merli said he’s developed many properties and owns multi-family homes. He suggested using tax breaks and a program that funnels tax revenues to build infrastructure for new developments.
Debate details
The debate was organized by the University of Scranton's Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service.
Center’s director Brian Snee moderated.
The debate panelists were Donnie Collins of The Scranton Times-Tribune; Stacy Lange, a WNEP-TV reporter/anchor/producer; and Connor Coar, a WBRE-TV/WYOU-TV multimedia journalist.
