SCRANTON, Pa. — Homeowners in Lackawanna County may have to think twice about their spending in the new year.
Democratic majority Lackawanna County Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Matt McGloin on Tuesday announced a roughly 33% percent property tax hike as part of the county's $167 million 2025 budget proposal.
“The deficit identified in this budget is more than $28 million,” Gaughan said. “But when we began the formal budget process a few months ago, it was projected at more than 35 million.”
The proposed tax hike would be the largest in a decade, county records show. The raise would add an estimated $245 bump to the average household’s tax bill.
The tax hike is mostly aimed at bolstering the county's general operating fund. The increase would raise more than $28 million in tax revenue for that fund. It would also raise more than $2 million to help cover increased debt service costs.
The commissioners say the hike is needed to help eliminate the county's nearly $29 million deficit that formed from years of soaring expenses, anemic revenue and mismanagement from previous administrations.
“Simply put, they played politics, worrying only about getting reelected instead of actually running the county,” Gaughan said.
McGloin said reform will take time.
Republican minority Commissioner Chris Chermak was absent from the presentation but stood nearby while Gaughan and McGloin presented their budget.
Chermak said he will cast a vote against Gaughan and McGloin’s budget when the three-person executive and legislative body convenes to approve a final spending plan. Chermak said he plans to propose a budget as well.
“The county has a spending problem,” Chermak said. There's no other way to explain it.”
The commissioners will hold four public hearings on the proposed budget, starting Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Moosic.
The county must pass a budget by the end of November.
The county’s government entered this year with $6 million in its general fund and roughly $18.5 million in unpaid bills carried over from 2023.
Acting at the recommendation of PFM Group, a consulting firm, the county froze hiring and ceased discretionary spending. To help with immediate cash problems, the county restructured millions in debt and laid plans to borrow millions of dollars more.
The majority commissioners said they hope to put the county on a path of long-term stability. However, it will take a huge tax hike to get there.
“If Commissioner Chermak were standing up here with us today, I don't know what else he would say,” Gaughan said. That's why he's the minority commissioner. The minority commissioner plays an important role in county government as a check and balance to the majority commissioners. We're simply asking: where's your plan?”