LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— It’s no secret Lackawanna County is struggling financially after implementing a 33% tax increase, freezing hiring, and limiting wage increases to balance the 2025 budget.
Officials are now focusing on a long-term plan to prevent future financial trouble.
At the start of 2024, Lackawanna County had just $6.1 million in its general fund, not even half of what was needed to keep things running for a month to stay afloat, officials borrowed $11 million, but now they’re working to fix the root of the problem.
On the road to financial recovery, PFM presented a long-term plan Thursday morning to get Lackawanna County of out the red.
The priorities include: tracking spending more closely and being transparent, keeping wages and benefits affordable while still supporting workers, and cutting unnecessary expenses without sacrificing public safety.
“So Lackawanna County government needs to get to a place where it has financial stability so it could provide the services that residents need at a price they can afford and at a price they can predict,” explained Gordan Mann, Managing Director, PFM Consulting.
The county needs to tackle one of its biggest expenses- employee salaries and benefits.
“The employees who work here in Lackawanna County they work hard. You want to be able to pay them you want to be able to retain them, but you have to be able to pay them at a level that the residents can afford to pay through their taxes,” stated Mann.
Another area of major spending is with the criminal justice system. It takes up nearly half of the county’s budget, and costs have kept rising while revenue from state and federal grants have stayed flat.
“It’s not about getting rid of 30 sheriffs and sending them all home or closing the jail, it’s about doing the things that you have to do more efficiently and there are opportunities to do that here,” added commented Mann.
A major change residents endured was a 33% property tax increase this year, Commissioner Bill Gaughan (D) says it was necessary to balance the 2025 budget, but a long-term plan like this will avoid those tax hikes in the future.
“I’m confident that in the next few years we will look back and say it was difficult in the beginning, we had to make difficult decisions that we took a lot of heat for, but they were necessary and in the long run, I think people will appreciate that,” stated Gaughan.
“I’m hoping that we can implement almost everything that they’re trying to do, and again it’s all for the taxpayers whatever is best for the taxpayers of Lackawanna County. That’s what I’m concerned about,” voiced Chris Chermak (R), Lackawanna County Commissioner.
Again this a long-term plan, county officials say this plan will take years to fully implement, but they’re committed to making sure Lackawanna County never faces another financial crisis like it did last year.
