With a week remaining before the 2017 budget adoption, Luzerne County Council members started voting on cuts late Tuesday evening.

Council members must find $9.95 million in cuts or new revenue if they want to avoid a 4 percent property tax hike, a new $5 vehicle registration fee, and the permanent elimination of the homestead break for primary residences next year.

After hours of debating a menu of amendments proposed by various council members, a council majority rejected across-the-board cuts of 6 percent and 4 percent as suggested by Councilwoman Kathy Dobash.

Also defeated were proposals by Edward Brominski and Eileen Sorokas to eliminate 23 part-time assistant solicitors who are eligible for health benefits in exchange for fewer full-time positions.

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Sorokas also failed to obtain majority support for a motion to declare a “no confidence” vote in county Manager C. David Pedri’s proposed budget.

A council majority did not approve Councilman Stephen A. Urban’s proposal to decrease funding for 15 of 18 proposed new positions, which would have left two grant-funded positions in the district attorney’s office and a tourism position that is covered by hotel tax revenue instead of the general fund.

However, a council majority approved a proposal by Harry Haas to cut the district attorney’s budget by $58,525, the amount of funding District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis requested to create a new deputy district attorney position to focus on drug cases.

Haas said he understands the need, but the county is “on a shoestring.” Salavantis can reduce spending elsewhere in her budget if creating the position is a priority, Urban said.

Councilman Bob Schnee said the proposal was “unconscionable” in light of “what’s going on in the streets” with opioid abuse. Salavantis repeatedly has kept her spending below budget in recent years and did not submit the request as a “wish list,” he said.

In the end, the reduction was supported by Rick Williams, Brominski, Dobash, Haas, Sorokas and Urban.

The council postponed voting on some suggestions until the Dec. 13 budget adoption to allow more time for comparison and review. For example, Williams proposed reducing controller’s office expenses by $7,670, while Dobash pushed for a $13,010 cut in the office.

The discussion got heated at times.

As county Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz was discussing retirement expenses, Urban told him the administration should have adjusted spending to conform with available revenue instead of “asking for more.”

“Mr. Urban, we’ll do our job. You do yours,” Pedri said. “I’m not going to let you sit here and beat up on a county employee.”

Urban said that Pedri spoke “out of hand” and was “out of line.”

The meeting opened with the second public budget hearing, and five citizens urged the council to avoid a tax hike and vehicle fee.

Instead of a vehicle fee, which would generate $1 million in revenue next year, Kingston resident Brian Shiner suggested the council explore creating a road and bridge authority to implement a fee on property owners near the county-owned roads and bridges, similar to the county Flood Protection Authority’s Wyoming Valley Levee fee on properties in the levee-protected Susquehanna River flood zone.

Joe McCabe, of Exeter, said many senior citizens are losing their houses due to property taxes.

“Where’s the end? There’s got to be an end,” McCabe said.

Pedri told the council $4.4 million of the $6 million overall increase in the $136 million proposed budget stems from unavoidable expenses, including a $700,000 employee pension fund subsidy spike and a $2.8 million Children and Youth match that had been covered by refinancing savings this year that are no longer available.

Luzerne County Courthouse
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Courthouse.jpg.optimal.jpgLuzerne County Courthouse

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

jandes@timesleader.com

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.