Employee salaries and benefits and new staffing requirements at the Lackawanna County Prison are driving the 4 percent property tax increase that Commissioners Jim Wansacz and Corey O'Brien have proposed in their tentative county budget for 2013.
In releasing the details of the $91.7 million spending plan during a public hearing Monday at the Administration Building, the Democratic majority commissioners said the budget will hold the line on expenses while allowing the county to make an investment in economic development through incentives for private-sector job creation.
"We can lead and try to put people back to work in the private sector - not government jobs, the private sector - or we can sit by and do nothing," Mr. Wansacz said.
Under the plan, the real estate tax rate would increase by 2.42 mills to 57.42 mills. With a mill equal to $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed value, the tax bill on a residential property assessed at the county average of $13,000 would jump $31 - from $715 to $746.
The commissioners cited rising personnel costs and expenses associated with prison staffing in discussing the challenges presented by the 2013 budget.
The administration anticipates contractually obligated salaries for county employees will grow by nearly $1.19 million next year. Employee health care costs will increase 7 percent, adding $1.05 million in expenses.
At the same time, the budget calls for $1.23 million in savings through a reduction in the county's 1,114-member work force. Although the budget contains no details, the commissioners previously indicated 25 to 30 positions will be eliminated.
"In order for us to really do the right thing, we cannot ask the taxpayers to continue to foot the bill," Mr. Wansacz said. "We have to be able to streamline government a little bit. ... We are not just taxing our way out of it."
At the prison, as many as 30 additional employees - including some who have already been hired - will be required at an expected cost of $1.19 million to help the jail comply with state and federal staffing mandates, including those of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.
The prison is the largest single consumer of county tax dollars, accounting for $22.5 million, or 25 percent, of the proposed general fund budget. Overall, the county corrections system will cost $32.5 million in 2013, or 35 percent of the budget.
Minority Commissioner Patrick O'Malley urged Mr. Wansacz and Mr. O'Brien to look into hiring a new health care administrator as a way to save money and possibly avoid both a tax increase and layoffs.
Millennium Administrators Inc., which is expected to save the Scranton School District more $2 million on health care this year, has indicated the savings for the county could be between $2 million and $4 million annually, said Mr. O'Malley, a former school director.
"We have 47 days to look at this," he said, referring to the Dec. 1 deadline for adopting a budget.
Mr. O'Brien pointed out Millennium was not among the companies that responded when the county issued a request for qualifications for a health care consultant in May.
The budget will fund the economic development initiative that Mr. Wansacz and Mr. O'Brien promised when they were running for office in 2011. A total of $1.25 million will be set aside to provide incentives for job creation, particularly in the area of biotechnology, and for community reinvestment projects.
Under the plan, the county's planning and community development activities will be consolidated within the new Department of Economic Development.
Mr. O'Brien said he thinks everyone agrees the county's jobless rate is "totally unacceptable." The seasonally-adjusted county jobless rate in August was 9.1 percent.
"Nobody is coming to our rescue," the commissioner said. "We have a high unemployment rate. We need to do something about it. The only way we can do something about it is investing in ourselves."
Only two members of the public spoke at the public hearing.
Old Forge resident Laureen Cummings, the Republican candidate for Congress in the 17th District, said the commissioners should use the money they are spending on economic development and other initiatives to roll back the 38 percent real estate tax increase they imposed for 2012.
"The past four years have been hell for most people," Ms. Cummings said. "The last thing they need is a 4 percent tax increase on top of 38 percent from last year."
The commissioners will hold another budget hearing today at 5:30 p.m. at the Blakely Borough Building, 1439 Main St., Peckville.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com