LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Tonight tension continues to surround the Lackawanna County Commissioners and the county . Two of the three commissioners showed up for Wednesday's last public hearing before the county budget is passed, with a possibility of a 33% tax increase.
This comes after Tuesday night, when the Republican minority Commissioner, Chris Chermak, released his own budget proposal. In it, he called for only a 6% tax increase.
During Wednesday's meeting, Commissioner Bill Gaughan explained the roughly 33% percent property tax hike as part of the county's $167 million 2025 budget proposal.
"We are raising taxes nearly 33 percent. This is the first major tax increase since 2012," said Gaughan.
That 33 percent tax increase front and center for residents, as they addressed the Lackawanna County Commissioners at Wednesday's budget hearing.
"Once these people start realizing they're losing home, the city is going to be on fire. There's no other way they're going to survive," said Frank Serafini of Moosic.
Some residents presented the commissioners with suggestions on ways the county can find extra funds.
"There should be a county fee against the landfills. We have two," explained one woman.
While others had a lot of questions, surrounding the proposed budget.
"I'll let you answer while I'm up here. You haven't taken any notes, so there's no way you can answer all the questions you've been asked," said Justin White of Clarks Summit.
Commissioners Matt McGloin and Bill Gaughan say they are waiting until the next meeting to address those public questions. They did, however, have time to discuss their counterpart, minority republican commissioner Chris Chermak.
"Being in the minority does not mean you're powerless, especially when you have the power to influence decisions and allocate resources. Commissioner Chermak's narrative of being sidelined doesn't hold up when you take a look at his record," said McGloin.
This tension overflowed from Tuesday night's meeting when Chermak introduced his own budget proposal, which calls for only a 6 percent property tax increase and pulls 17 million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funding.
"This is the laziest document I've seen in my life. And if this is serious, we would take it seriously," added Gaughan on Wednesday.
It's the reason why c Chermak didn't show up for Wednesday's meeting.
"I wasn't going to go through that again, and I wasn't going to put the county through that. We cannot make a mockery of the state that this budget is in," said Chermack.
All of this inner fighting is not going unnoticed by Lackawanna County residents, especially with the possibility of that 33% tax increase still on the table.
"The behavior I witnessed yesterday was deplorable, disappointing, and embarrassing. Given the choice, I would probably not vote for any of you," said Joan Hodowanitz of Scranton.
The next budget hearing will take place on November 6th and a final budget approval will take place on November 20th.