Manhunt recognition event planned TuesdayScranton Mayor Bill Courtright on Wednesday proposed a $107.4 million budget for 2015 with a 19 percent increase in property taxes.
The Local Services Tax also would triple, from $52 a year per worker to $156 a year, as allowed under a recent change in state law aimed to help distressed cities like Scranton.
Other taxes, including wage, business privilege/mercantile and real estate transfer taxes, as well as a $300 annual trash fee, would all remain the same under the 2015 budget, which is Mr. Courtright’s first annual spending plan.
City council is expected to introduce the budget at its meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Scranton 2015 Budget Expenditures
Mr. Courtright said the budget largely follows what he and his advisers, including city Business Administrator David Bulzoni and consultant Henry Amoroso, have been forecasting. The mayor’s July recovery plan, which was devised by Mr. Amoroso based on a framework by Mr. Bulzoni, estimated an 18 percent property tax increase for 2015, as well as a tripling of the Local Services Tax.
“I don’t think there are any surprises” in the 2015 budget proposal, Mr. Courtright said.
The 2015 budget, crafted by Mr. Bulzoni and Human Resources Director Rebecca McMullen, also proposes dedicating nearly 50 percent of tax collections to paying city debt. This would remove part of the checkbook — and discretion — from city hands and hopefully reassure a wary financial community that the city is serious about fixing its fiscal problems, Mr. Bulzoni said.
“What we wanted to do was craft a budget that’s realistic,” Mr. Bulzoni said. “It’s going to be hard to increase revenue line items and reduce expenditures.”
The proposed increases follow the 2014 real estate tax increase of 56.7 percent and trash collection fee increase of 68.5 percent, from the former $178 a year trash fee to $300 a year.
While property taxes are rising, the total budget figure is significantly lower than the 2014 budget of $130.2 million, which was former Mayor Chris Doherty’s final budget, because they are not completely analogous, Mr. Bulzoni said. For example, the 2014 budget included some $22 million for a landmark court award of back pay for the city’s fire and police unions that the city has not yet been able to secure and pay out. Mr. Courtright’s 2015 budget includes only $4.8 million of that total court award, because that is what is what the city expects to be able to borrow in 2015 and pay toward the total amount, Mr. Bulzoni said.
The 2014 budget also included around $17 million in tax anticipation notes, all of which was not drawn down this year. The 2015 budget’s TAN figure is pegged at a more typical $13 million, he noted.
The 2015 budget also includes some additional positions, in the mayor’s office and the police, DPW, human resources and licensing departments. Most additions would be achieved through staff reductions or transfers elsewhere, and/or would be funded with grants. For example, a $7,500 pay raise for Ms. McMullen to take on additional duties as assistant business administrator would be funded with proceeds from a state grant, Mr. Bulzoni said.
The mayor’s office would add a part-time receptionist, the licensing department would add an inspector, and DPW would add a flood-control position. The law department would eliminate a paralegal position and add an assistant city solicitor. A treasury position would be cut to make room for an addition in Human Resources.
The police department would gain three positions, including two beat patrol officers for downtown, for which the city would seek grants, and one extra neighborhood patrol officer position paid with federal funds.
Fire department staffing would remain the same. The city is seeking to renew a federal SAFER grant that expired in June to fund salaries of 29 firefighters. The city hopes to learn by mid-2015 at the latest if the SAFER grant would be received. The city would use contingency funds to offset the expired grant if it is not renewed so the 29 positions would remain in 2015.
Budgets for council, City Controller and Single Tax Office would remain the same.
Some other budget highlights include the following:
• Scranton has two separate tax millage rates, one for land and the other for improvements. Increases in each one represents a tax hike of 18.99 percent.
• Land millage would rise from 184.867 mills to 219.973, or 18.99 percent.
• Improvement millage would rise from 40.202 to 47.835, or 18.99 percent.
• In land millage, 105.440 mills of the 219.973 total, or 48 percent, would be dedicated to paying debt service.
• In improvement millage, 22.929 mills of the total 47.835, or 48 percent, would be dedicated to paying debt service.
• Because the city will have to seek court approval to triple the Local Services Tax, it is only counting on an increase for the latter nine months of 2015.
• The budget does not include an inflated, unrealistic amount for voluntary payments in lieu of taxes, called PILOTs, from nonprofit institutions, and instead will “deploy a more practical approach” toward seeking such contributions, such as seeking donations or in-kind services for specific items or projects. A commuter tax also is not in the budget.
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter
Highlights of 2015 budget proposal
• A 19 percent increase in property taxes.
• A tripling of the Local Services Tax, from $52 a year to $156 a year, as allowed under a new law.
• No increase in the current $300 annual trash collection fee.
• No increases in earned-income (wage) tax, or in the business privilege/mercantile tax and real estate transfer tax.
• A few additional staffers, in the mayor’s office and departments of police, public works, human resources and licensing/inspections/permits.
• Dedication of 48 percent of property tax collections to paying debt.
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