SCRANTON — City council wants Mayor Wayne Evans’ administration to provide a Plan B in case elements of his proposed 2020 budget fail or fall short of expectations.
Among other features, the $116 million spending plan Evans proposed earlier this month would drop the city’s annual $300 trash fee to $250 and collect it through residents’ property tax bills. That major — and relatively controversial — proposal is one of several components of the budget council fears may not pan out, potentially leaving the city with a revenue shortfall or other issues.
Councilman Bill Gaughan noted several “speculative elements” of the proposed spending plan, including the sale of trash-fee delinquencies as receivables, the reduction of the trash fee itself, the addition of the trash fee to property tax bills and the city’s expected switch from the business privilege and mercantile taxes to a payroll tax.
“(Were) one of these moving parts to stall out, we would be in a difficult position next year,” Gaughan said. “There are so many moving parts here that I think it would be malfeasance on our part not to look at an alternative, a Plan B, just in case.”
Council voted 4-0, with council President Pat Rogan absent, to ask the administration for an alternative analysis in the event specific budget initiatives prove unviable.
Councilman Tim Perry described the analysis as a simple if/then projection.
For example, if the sale of delinquent refuse receivables doesn’t bring in the $2.2 million projected in the budget — or if including the trash fee in property tax bills is challenged in court — how will that impact Scranton’s financial situation next year?
Several residents and council members voiced concern tonight about the proposed change to trash fee billing, questioning its fairness.
Under the proposal, owners of commercial and large rental properties would likely be charged the $250 garbage fee despite paying a private hauler to collect their trash. At the same time, the owners of a single-family home and a three-unit rental property could face the same garbage fee.
Proponents of the change say the reduced fee is achievable because including it in real estate tax bills will broaden the base of payers. Skeptics fear the proposed billing system may provoke legal challenges.
Reached after the meeting, Evans said his administration will address council’s concerns at a public budget work session scheduled for 4 p.m. on Dec. 4. That session will take place at City Hall.
The administration is confident in its budget analysis and confident the proposed initiatives are “sound and forward-thinking,” Evans said.
Council advanced an ordinance appropriating funds for the 2020 budget tonight, but then tabled the legislation until after the Dec. 4 work session. Council is likely to vote on the ordinance at its regular meeting Dec. 9.
Also tonight, city ethics board Chairwoman Joan Hodowanitz announced her resignation while blasting council and the administration for not providing the board sufficient resources.
A lack of resources, from office space and supplies to personnel, renders the board little more than a “paper tiger,” she said. Hodowanitz noted she devoted much of her free time and her own resources to help the board get up and running, but that’s not enough.
“I doubt you can provide the support we need to perform our duties with the $25,000 allocated to us in the 2020 budget,” Hodowanitz said. “Your efforts to resurrect the ethics board may be well intentioned, but you and the administration have done little or nothing to support it.”
While disappointed to see Hodowanitz resign, Gaughan, Evans and Councilwoman Mary Walsh Dempsey rejected the notion the city isn’t committed to the ethics board’s success.
While government sometimes moves slowly, Evans said his administration remains 100% committed to making sure the board has the tools needed to be effective.
“This is not a sprint,” he said. “This is a marathon.”
Given the timing of the resignation, Evans said he’ll likely let Mayor-elect Paige Cognetti appoint Hodowanitz’s successor.
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In other business, council:
n Introduced legislation authorizing the city to obtain a short-term loan called a tax anticipation note, which would provide cash flow early in the year before tax revenues come in. The 2020 TAN would be for up to $12.75 million.
n Introduced a resolution accepting a $1,000 donation from Briden American to the Scranton Police Department Special Operations Group.
n Introduced legislation accepting the recommendation of the city’s Historical Architecture Review Board and approving a certificate of appropriateness for developer Charles Jefferson, who plans alterations and renovations to the former Stoehr & Fister Building at 200 Adams Ave. The building served as the Lackawanna County Administration Building until the county relocated to the former Globe store. Jefferson’s firm and the county expect to close on the roughly $1.6 million sale of the building early next month.
n Approved legislation regulating city BYOB clubs that allow patrons to carry in and consume their own alcohol, often allowing the businesses to avoid the state’s 2 a.m. closing time for typical bars. Among other restrictions, the legislation would bar BYOB clubs from operating between 2-8 a.m. and prohibit anyone under 21 from entering without a parent or legal guardian. It would also prohibit BYOB clubs from conducting business without displaying the club’s hours of operation and a valid city occupancy permit.
n Approved an ordinance updating the city’s list of historic properties by creating a local downtown historic district. The legislation expands the list of historic properties to include all buildings located within the city’s central business district. It also amends the process for the legislative review of recommendations made by the city’s historical architecture review board.
n Approved legislation authorizing a contract with Moretti CPA of Old Forge to audit city gas card activity between April 2016 and March 2019. Moretti’s proposal for the audit includes a $9,675 cost estimate.