Next year's planned property tax increase will hold at 4 percent as Lackawanna County uses a combination of savings and new revenue to close the nearly $1.8 million gap in its proposed 2013 budget caused by the state's decision to pull its inmates from the county jail.
Most of the budget shuffling will take place in the area of corrections, where majority Commissioners Jim Wansacz and Corey O'Brien on Tuesday confirmed the work-release program will relocate to the county prison from the Community Corrections Center on Spruce Street.
But other programs also will take a hit, including the county's Penn State Extension Service. Its county allocation will be cut in half - from $240,000 to $120,000.
"We are cutting to the bone, and when you cut to the bone, it hurts," Mr. O'Brien said.
The adjustments will be reflected in the tentative $91.7 million budget that commissioners plan to introduce today at 10 a.m. at the Administration Building. The spending plan calls a 4 percent increase in the real estate tax rate.
The administration was forced to revisit the budget proposal, originally released Oct. 15, when it received notification four days later that the state planned to remove its prisoners from the county prison, creating a $1,752,000 revenue shortfall.
More than $1.35 million of that will be made up at the prison under the changes announced Tuesday.
With fewer inmates because of the state's decision, the prison will forgo the planned hiring of 13 additional corrections officers at a savings of $635,871, Warden Robert McMillan said. For the same reason, the prison expects to spend $113,880 less than originally budgeted on inmate meals.
The prison will eliminate its GED program and parenting classes, both provided by the Employment Opportunity and Training Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, at a savings of $150,000, Mr. McMillan said. A new agreement to house up to 10 inmates for Bradford County will generate up to $237,250.
The county expects to save $56,000 in maintenance, utilities and other expenses by closing the work-release center on Spruce Street and relocating its participants to the prison.
The move will let the county increase the number of its work-release beds from 43 to 55, producing $52,500 in additional revenue. The rent paid by male and female work-release prisoners will increase from $10 to $15 daily.
"There are programs and services that are going to be affected ... but it's the only way we can get through without raising taxes more," Mr. Wansacz said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com