Latest news with #ChrisChermak
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Commissioners award almost $100,000 in Community Re-Invest grants
CLARKS SUMMIT — Lackawanna County grant funding will help defray the cost of a crosswalk safety initiative in Clarks Summit, a spay and neuter clinic in Scranton, and other projects and purchases planned by local municipalities and nonprofits. Meeting Wednesday in Clarks Summit, Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Chris Chermak unanimously approved nearly $100,000 in grants through the county's popular Community Re-Invest Program, with 20 projects receiving grants in the first of two program funding rounds this year. The successful applicants, funding amounts and projects include: • Blakely Borough Police Department: $5,000 to defray the $11,143 cost of purchasing a drone. • Shopa-Davey VFW Post 6082, Blakely: $5,000 to defray the $8,900 cost of repairing/replacing the roofs of the post's storage and chicken barbecue buildings. • Blakely Borough Community Ambulance Association: $4,350 to cover the cost of training equipment. • Clarks Summit Borough: $4,958 to cover the cost of a crosswalk safety initiative. • Abington Junior Comets Football Club: $5,000 to cover most of the $5,158 cost of concessions equipment and uniform upgrades. • Covington Twp.: $5,000 to defray the $9,789 cost of painting the exterior of a new police station. • American Legion Post 665, Dickson City: $5,000 to defray the $8,069 cost of a basement water project. • Center for the Living City, Dunmore: $5,000 to defray the $24,000 cost of 'Lighting Up Scranton 2025,' with grant funding supporting equipment, marketing and artist payments. • Elmhurst Twp. Sewer Authority: $5,000 to cover the cost of public restroom facilities accessibility upgrades. • Madison Twp.: $5,000 to defray the $6,400 cost of a disabled ramp covering project at the Township Building. • William Walker Hose Company, Mayfield: $5,000 to cover the cost of firefighting equipment. • Mayfield Borough: $5,000 to cover the cost of municipal meeting room upgrades. • Moscow Borough: $5,000 to cover the cost of a Golden Park fence-extension project. • West Scranton Little League: $5,000 to cover the cost of new grass, lighting and seating at the Little League facilities. • PAWsitively for the Animals, Scranton: $5,000 to cover most of the $5,600 cost of an operational savings and growth project, including the cost of purchasing a computer and other equipment, a pallet jack and holiday costumes for fundraising events. • American Legion Post 568, Scranton: $5,000 to defray the $9,500 cost of a flat roof replacement project. • West Scranton Wrestling Alumni Association: $5,000 to defray the $20,453 cost of installing two Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant lifts. • St. Cats and Dogs of Scranton: $5,000 to defray the $20,000 cost of supplies for a spay/neuter clinic. • United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Scranton: $5,000 to defray the $9,600 cost of food/clothing pantry improvements. • South Abington Police Department: $5,000 to defray the $25,739 cost of Lexipol law enforcement policy and procedure manuals. County Economic Development Director Kristin Magnotta said the 20 grant recipients were among 28 that applied. Those not awarded funding this round may apply again for funding during the second, she said. Gaughan lauded the grant program. Modest as the individual grants are, the money can be invaluable for organizations trying to close funding gaps and get projects over the finish line, he said.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Public invited to attend property reassessment town hall in Lackawanna County
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Rising property assessments are putting pressure on homeowners across Lackawanna County, and it's hitting hardest for seniors and those living on fixed incomes. One local leader says he's heard the concerns loud and clear and is taking action. Several homeowners have continued to share their frustrations with their recent assessments, saying their values are too high. If that's you, Monday night's town hall is aimed at being a resource of information to learn more about the process. The public is invited to the Reassessment Town Hall on Monday night at Lackawanna College on Vine Street in Scranton. The event is organized by Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak. May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month Attorneys and property appraisers will walk residents through the process of appealing assessments, applying for relief programs, and preparing for what's next. Monday night's town hall follows a series of eight reassessment information sessions held around the county in late February and early March. 28/22 News spoke with Commissioner Chermak about the push for the informative event. 'Property owners who still disagree with the new valuations after the review may file a formal appeal by August 1. Appeals will be heard in August, September, and October. Final valuations for 2026 taxes must be set by November 15,' Commissioner Chermak stated. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. The town hall starts at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Lackawanna College on Vine Street. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chermak to host reassessment town hall Monday
Republican Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak will host a town hall Monday afternoon on the county's ongoing property reassessment, an event that follows a series of eight reassessment information sessions held around the county in late February and early March. Chermak's town hall in the Peoples Security Bank Theater at Lackawanna College, 501 Vine St., Scranton, also comes after residential property owners countywide received their tentative new assessed values pursuant to the reassessment the county initiated in 2022. That's when a prior board of commissioners voted 2-1, with former Democratic Commissioners Jerry Notarianni and Debi Domenick in favor and Chermak opposed, to hire the firm Tyler Technologies to conduct and complete the county's first reassessment since 1968. Assessed values are what municipalities, counties and school districts use to calculate property tax bills. Reassessment is designed to ensure tax fairness by bringing assessed property values in line with market values. But because it's been 57 years since Lackawanna County's last reassessment, which preceded the disco era and moon landing, the tentative assessed values county homeowners recently received are likely significantly higher than their old assessed values, especially if those values date to 1968. For context, the median price of a new single-family home in the United States that year was about $24,700. Higher assessments don't necessarily mean one's property tax bills will be higher next year when the new values take effect, since tax rates will fall to ensure the reassessment is essentially revenue-neutral for taxing bodies as required by law. A general rule of thumb is that about a third of tax bills increase after reassessment, a third decrease and a third stay more or less the same. But the calculated assessments have been a source of frustration for some homeowners who contend their new values are too high — an informal review process is already underway and formal appeals will be heard later this year — and others wary of the impact of reassessment more broadly. Several frustrated homeowners have voiced concerns at recent commissioners meetings. Chermak hopes his town hall will mitigate some of that frustration and clear up confusion homeowners might still have about reassessment, confusion that persists despite Tyler and the county's many efforts to educate the public about the process. The GOP commissioner wants the event to be civil and informative. 'This is not a town hall to come and bash the county and bash the reassessment process,' he said this week. 'It's going to give people information on how this process is working, what you need to do if you have questions, how you do your (appeal) hearing, how you get your comparables. This is all just to inform the public on what they need to do if there's questions that they have.' Attorney Howard Rothenberg will moderate the town hall, which will feature input from commercial and residential real estate attorneys, a professional appraiser and Chermak himself. The panel will provide guidance on appealing assessments, information on how they're calculated and potential property tax relief options available to qualifying homeowners, among other subjects, and take questions from the audience. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the program begins at 5:30, Chermak said. Unpopular as reassessment can be politically and otherwise, it's a process proponents contend the county would have had to undertake one way or another. As part of finalizing the deal with Tyler several years ago, the prior board of commissioners also ratified an agreement postponing further action in a lawsuit filed by three taxpayers seeking to compel a reassessment on the basis of tax fairness. Those litigants specifically alleged the county's 1968 assessments had resulted in disparate taxes on similar properties, with some property owners paying more than their fair share and others paying less, in violation of the state constitution's Uniformity Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Had the then-commissioners failed to commence the long-overdue reassessment, the county court would likely order a reassessment anyway, proponents maintain. Property owners who still disagree with the new valuations following the informal review process may file a formal appeal. All formal appeals must be filed by Aug. 1, and will be heard in August, September and October. Final valuations used to calculate 2026 municipal, school and county taxes must be established by Nov. 15. More information on reassessment is available online at
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County adopts ordinance imposing fee on tax, sheriff sale purchases to fight blight
Lackawanna County commissioners recently adopted an ordinance that adds a fee to the purchase price of properties sold at tax and sheriff sales — a new revenue stream officials will use to battle blight in local communities. The $250 fee paid by property purchasers will be deposited into a 'demolition and rehabilitation fund' administered by the Lackawanna County Land Bank, which could use those designated funds to raze or rehabilitate blighted buildings or award the funding through a competitive process to municipalities and other entities for property demolition or rehabilitation projects, per the ordinance State Act 48 of 2024 allows counties to establish such a fund and impose an up to $250 fee on the sale of any tax-delinquent property sold in accordance with Pennsylvania's Real Estate Tax Sale Law. It also allows for the fee to be applied to mortgage foreclosure properties sold at sheriff sales. The Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau conducts tax sales, where potential buyers can purchase certain tax-delinquent properties, while the county sheriff's office conducts sheriff sales. Properties sold at sheriff sales are mortgage and judgment defaults, not tax-delinquent properties. Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Chris Chermak adopted the ordinance Wednesday at the same meeting where they accepted former Commissioner Matt McGloin's resignation. Officials can start imposing the fee 90 days from the date of passage, giving them time to set up the program, county economic development Director Kristin Magnotta said. Lackawanna County is the third in Pennsylvania to adopt such an ordinance, following Jefferson and Clarion counties, officials said. 'I'm really proud of this program,' Gaughan said, calling it forward-thinking. 'I think it's really going to help put money back into neighborhoods across Lackawanna County to either fight blight or, if the properties are beyond repair, to demolish them, so we're really excited about this.' Had it been in place last year, the fee would have generated about $40,000 from properties sold at tax sales, county Tax Claim Bureau Director Barbara Lynady said last month. The bureau will hold the 2025 Judicial Tax Sale on March 24 at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple. Tax-delinquent properties sold at judicial sales are sold free and clear of any liens, judgments or mortgages. Information on the forthcoming sale is available online at
