LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- Big changes could be coming to Lackawanna County's office space. Only minutes after winning last night's election, the county's new majority commissioners announced they want to move all of the county offices into one location.
Say you need to see the Lackawanna County Sheriff, you will need to stop at the courthouse. What if you need a marriage license? That's over at the Electric City building on Linden Street.
Need to pay your county taxes? You will have to walk a few blocks. That office is inside The Mall at Steamtown.
"You got to hunt for everything. And then there's parking and all that, you know? It's a hassle," said Raul Menendez of Clarks Summit.
Several Lackawanna County services are scattered throughout downtown Scranton. Then there's voter registration in south Scranton four miles away.
But that's nothing. How about twenty miles out of Scranton, up the Casey highway, just for one county service?
The Lackawanna County Domestic Relations Office is one of seven county offices that are in leased facilities. In total, Lackawanna County spends about $1.5 million in rent each year.
"Why should they be paying $1.5 million in leases? We have some options out there. We just have to make sure it's the right building," said newly elected majority Commissioner Pat O'Malley.
O'Malley told Newswatch 16 the expected cost savings is one reason why the new majority wants to move all county offices under one roof.
"I see one large building, where it will be like one stop shopping for our citizens. That's what it's about," he added.
O'Malley's hope is to keep county offices in downtown Scranton. They plan to buy an existing building.
"It should be under one roof, with the money they're spending on rent and all these other locations, and then you come into the city and you can't find where all these places are so you might as well put it under one roof," added Menendez.
Commissioner O'Malley told Newswatch 16 that the previous administration considered moving county offices to The Mall at Steamtown. That idea is now off the table.
O'Malley said they have already done some shopping, but he wouldn't reveal which properties they're looking at.