Luzerne County holding public hearing regarding opioid settlement funds

Luzerne County will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Monday (Sept. 30) to brief the public on current and possible future uses of the county’s opioid settlement funds, according to a legal notice.

The hearing will be at the county operations building, 1199 Wyoming Ave., in Wyoming borough.

It will be both in-person and virtual, and options to attend remotely will be posted at luzernecounty.org.

The county council had unanimously voted last month to earmark $1 million in opioid litigation settlement funds to expand these existing programs: medication-assisted treatment at the prison, $625,404; warm hand-off and certified recovery specialist services, $208,468; and school opioid prevention education programs, $208,468.

These allocations were recommended by the county’s Commission on Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement.

The county is expected to receive $25 million over 18 years from the state’s settlement against opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors, and $1 million had to be programmed by the end of August so it did not have to be returned.

Election Board

The county’s five-citizen Election Board will meet at 10 a.m. Monday (Sept. 30) to approve the Nov. 5 general election ballot — a step required to proceed with the printing of mail ballots and programming of ballot marking devices used at polling places.

Following past practice, county Election Director Emily Cook posted ballot proofs on the election page at luzernecounty.org last week and urged the public to review them and immediately report any issues or concerns.

No other matters are on the agenda.

The meeting is at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Tax claim

The council unanimously voted last week to keep Elite Revenue Solutions LLC as the county’s tax-claim operator from 2025 through 2027, with two additional optional one-year renewals.

During public comment, county Controller Walter Griffith encouraged the council to continue the company’s contract, saying it has been “fabulous to work with” during his audits of tax collection. The staff is “very cooperative and helpful,” he said.

Elite Revenue Solutions LLC is a restructured successor entity of Northeast Revenue Services LLC, and the companies have been overseeing delinquent tax collections since prior county commissioners outsourced the service 14 years ago.

The county publicly sought proposals from prospective operators, and Elite Revenue Solutions LLC was the lone respondent, the agenda said.

Under the agreement, the county pays nothing out of pocket and receives $72,000 in revenue annually from the company’s rental of an office in the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The company is paid primarily through a penalty added to overdue school and municipal taxes collected by the county as allowed by law. Elite Revenue Solutions LLC gives the county the 5% collection fee it would have received for the county portion of taxes, which amounts to $350,000 to $400,000 annually, the agenda said.

The operator must collect overdue real estate taxes, bring eligible properties to auction and maintain a public database documenting the payment status of each property.

Hazard mitigation

The council also unanimously agreed to retain Michael Baker International Inc. to update the county’s hazard mitigation plan.

Required every five years for the county to be eligible for certain grants, the plan outlines potential natural and man-made dangers facing the county and actions to reduce risks.

Council clerk

In another unanimous vote, the council agreed to authorize council clerk Sharon Lawrence to assist the county’s Government Study Commission with meeting arrangements, county website posting and other duties.

County bridges

Council members also voted unanimously to use county interest earnings from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to replace the county-owned Harris Hill Road Bridge in Kingston Township ($1.9 million) and Sleepy Hollow Bridge in Butler Township ($1.2 million).

County Councilman Jimmy Sabatino, who pushed for the earmark, said he is pleased all of his colleagues supported the infrastructure projects and added that the work “can’t stop here.”

“The administration went above and beyond to support this work, and it has been a great, collaborative experience. We will continue to work together to identify additional funding sources,” Sabatino said. “Should more appropriate sources be found, we hope to retain the interest money for other areas that may need it. The hard working people of Luzerne County deserve safe, quality roads and bridges, and I’m proud that we’re taking real steps toward that goal.”

The stone arch Harris Hill Road Bridge and steel truss Sleepy Hollow Bridge were recommended because their closure has negatively impacted traffic patterns in those areas.

The Sleepy Hollow Bridge was added to the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan for future funding, but construction would have had to wait until 2027 if alternate funding had not been identified.