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Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
At town hall, Chermak calls for county to pause reassessment process
SCRANTON — Republican Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak again called for the county to pump the brakes on and pause its property reassessment project that's been ongoing since 2022 and nears completion — a proposal Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan rejected as disingenuous, untenable and impractical. At a Monday town hall meeting he hosted on the ongoing reassessment, Chermak acknowledged the need to update property assessments countywide for the first time since 1968 and restore fairness to a system that's become wildly skewed over the past 57 years. But he also reiterated calls to pause the reassessment for a year to make sure tentative assessed values thousands of property owners have questioned or disputed are correct, a pause Gaughan doesn't support and won't entertain. 'Why don't we wait and take a look at these numbers, see what the values are (and) make the proper corrections,' Chermak told the audience of about 100 gathered Monday in the Peoples Security Bank Theater at Lackawanna College. 'My thought was what's the hurry? … Rushing through it doesn't do it for me. It doesn't do it for me. I think there's things that need to be looked at.' A county resident attending Commissioner Chris Chermak's reassessment town hall Monday looks toward the stage in the Peoples Security Bank Auditorium in Angeli Hall on Lackawanna College's campus in Scranton. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) Tyler Technologies, the firm conducting the reassessment, mailed in March tentative new property values that property owners have an opportunity to appeal before new assessments take effect next year. The tentative values should reflect a property's fair market value, or the amount the property should fetch if sold. More than 8,600 property owners who disagree with or question their tentative assessments booked appointments to raise concerns during an informal review process that continues through Friday, a precursor to a formal appeals window that will open this summer. Tyler had met with property owners to discuss questions relative to 13,602 properties as of Monday morning, information provided by county assessment Director Patrick Tobin shows. Against that backdrop, Gaughan rejected the premise that the reassessment process isn't working and should be paused. Reacting Tuesday to Chermak's call for such a pause, Gaughan noted the process of rectifying issues with the tentative values is happening now via the informal reviews and will continue with formal appeals. 'The assertion he's making that we can halt or slow down the reassessment is extremely misleading and in my opinion it's untenable and completely impractical,' Gaughan said. 'It's not a discretionary initiative. If we were to stop it, or to slow it down, we would be just wasting everybody's time. We are at the finish line here and the goal is to stop perpetuating the existing inequities that the reassessment seeks to eliminate.' Neither Chermak nor Gaughan voted to initiate the reassessment, which a prior board of commissioners approved over Chermak's objections before Gaughan was in office. But Gaughan and other reassessment proponents maintain that a judge likely would have compelled the county to reassess anyway had the county failed to act. As part of finalizing the deal with Tyler in 2022, the prior board of commissioners 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. Among other terms, the stipulated order postponing the litigation states that the county 'shall fully complete the Reassessment and implement the final new assessed values for use in all real property taxation in Lackawanna County no later than January 1, 2026.' Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak, far left, hosts a town hall meeting to discuss the county's reassessment project. Seated next to Chermak, from left, are attorneys Anthony Lomma, Jim Mulligan and Kevin Walsh and professional property appraiser J. Conrad Bosley. The town hall was held Monday, May 12, 2025, in the Peoples Security Bank Auditorium in Angeli Hall on Lackawanna College's campus in Scranton. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) The question of whether the process can or should be paused notwithstanding, much of Chermak's town hall featured input from a panel of experts who explained the reassessment and appeals processes and answered audience questions. The panel included attorneys Tony Lomma and Jim Mulligan, who discussed residential assessment appeals, attorney Kevin Walsh, who spoke to the commercial side, and professional real estate appraiser J. Conrad Bosley. They all advised property owners who disagree with their tentative assessments to challenge them through the available channels, including the informal review and formal appeals processes. Property owners still unsatisfied after exhausting those options can challenge their assessments in county court. The panelists also recommended property owners considering appeals, be they residential or commercial, get an appraisal done to bolster their cases. A number of audience members voiced frustration Monday over inaccuracies they believe resulted in exceedingly high tentative assessments, issues the review and appeals processes are designed to address. On Tuesday, Tobin said informal reviews will continue through Friday and that Tyler can take walk-in appointments when appropriate at the county 911 Center, 30 Valley View Drive, Jessup. New final assessments reflecting potential adjustments made following informal reviews will be mailed by June 20, giving homeowners at least 40 days to file formal appeals by the Aug. 1 deadline. Property owners who didn't participate in the informal review process can still file formal appeals. Formal appeal hearings will be held from Aug. 1 through October, and officials anticipate a lot of them. Lomma said Monday he thinks there could be as many as 20,000 formal appeals filed countywide, though Tobin said Tuesday he anticipates 10,000 at most. 'I base it on the informal appeals,' Tobin said. 'Presumably a lot of those people will be satisfied with the result when they receive their final assessed value.' Assuming the process continues as planned, the new assessment roll taxing bodies will use to generate 2026 property tax bills will be certified Nov. 14. Full video of Chermak's reassessment town hall, including the audience question and answer portion, is available online via ECTV's YouTube channel. Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak hosts a town hall to discuss the county's reassessment project in the Peoples Security Bank Auditorium in Angeli Hall on Lackawanna College campus in Scranton on Monday, May 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) County residents attend a reassessment town hall meeting Monday in the Peoples Security Bank Auditorium in Angeli Hall on Lackawanna College's campus in Scranton. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lewisburg Area expected to raise taxes for 2025-26 school year
LEWISBURG — Lewisburg Area School District is expected to increase real estate taxes between 2.2 and 3 percent in the 2025-26 school year. At Thursday night's public meeting, the school board members directed Business Manager Kyle Winton to work on a budget that included a potential property tax increase within that range, a $400,000 transfer to the capital projects fund and the addition of three staff positions. The preliminary budget would be ready for approval at the May 8 meeting and the final budget would be adopted at the June 12 meeting. Winton presented an updated look at the budget with revenues at $44,695,058 and expenditures at $44,961,594. Winton said the deficit went from $211,000 at last month's public meeting to $86,157 at Thursday night's public meeting. The main differences are updated revenue projections in local contributions, basic education funding and Ready to Learn Block Grant, but there is less funding for special education. There are fewer personnel expenses, but increased costs in liability insurance, electricity for all buildings and natural gas for Linntown Intermediate School, Winston said. A 3 percent increase would equal .6 additional mills, which would bring the total millage rate to 20.67. An average property owner would see an annual increase of $87, Winton said. Historically, the district did not raise taxes in the 2020-21 school year. It increased taxes by 2.94 percent in 2021-22, 2.75 percent in 2022-23, 3.5 percent in 2023-24 and 3.5 percent in 2024-25. Superintendent Cathy Moser said the new staff members would be a middle school assistant principal, a new special education teacher and a board-certified behavior analyst. "There's rationale and justification for each of those," Moser said. Moser and school board members and officials praised Winton for his work on the budget. "The effort to bring the budget information, I greatly appreciate your work," Moser said to Winton. Director Cory Heath said the presentation was "informative" with some "pleasant news." "That's not always the case," Heath said. In unrelated business, Phillip Campbell, the director of college partnerships at Lackawanna College, presented a pre-college agreement that would allow students to participate in dual enrollment from Lewisburg Area. Campbell said dual enrollment students would spend $100 a credit, which means they would spend $1,300 for a typical semester instead of $9,200. Dual enrollment students can take college courses while they are attending high school. Campbell said one student will graduate from Lackawanna before they graduate from high school. He said his own daughter accumulated 30 credits before she graduated from high school and completed her bachelor's degree in three years instead of four. While the school board did not vote on the agreement, School Board President Erin Jablonski commented that she liked the presentation. In other business, the school board members approved: * Forrester Environmental, Inc., of McAdoo, to perform asbestos flooring abatement proposal for three middle school rooms for $20,300. * Clark Contractors, Inc., of Bedford, to perform Kelly Elementary School playground asphalt replacement for $67,083.04.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Higher education degree still valuable, NEPA higher education leaders say
Robotic arms moved around as Lackawanna College student Karim Vaquero and his classmate Luke Kotcho entered commands on remote controls. As they entered prompts, the robotic arms drew squares with a highlighter on a large sheet of paper. Vaquero, who resides in Carbondale, is hopeful the skills he's learning in the college's Robotics and Automation program will land him a job working with robots. 'That's kind of the future,' he said. 'Robotics and automation is basically going to be the primary choice for major corporations.' As colleges grapple with declining enrollment, mounting student debt, high tuition and political debates over how they teach race and other topics, Americans are questioning the value and cost of a higher education degree. Only 36% of adults say they have a 'great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in higher education, a decline from 57% in 2015, according to a report released last year by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation. A similar survey conducted by the Pew Research Center last year found 35% of adults say a college degree is somewhat important, while 40% say it's not too or not at all important. Roughly half, or 49%, of respondents said it is less important to have a four-year college degree today in order to get a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago. Leaders of higher education institutions in Northeast Pennsylvania say earning a college degree leads to opportunities in today's workplace. Those with a degree earn $1 million more than those without one, are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to have health insurance, they said. Attending a higher education institution teaches students skills like the ones Vaquero and Kotcho are learning that can be transferred to the workforce. Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, pointed to a survey the association conducted in 2023 showing eight in 10 employers agree a higher education prepares graduates to succeed in the workforce. Credentials, which are usually short-term programs that lead to a certificate, are also increasingly being valued by employers. 'There's a strong correlation between the knowledge, skills, mindsets and dispositions that employers are seeking, which they think are essential for success at the entry level and for advancement in their companies, and the liberal education that students receive,' she said. The leaders say some professions, like health care, require that employees have a degree or certification. 'A lot of the programs that we offer require some sort of formal training,' T.J. Eltringham, Lackawanna College's chief operating officer, said. 'There's still that need for post-secondary training.' Some of the college's programs, including nursing, cybersecurity and robotics, were launched with the intention of filling local employers' need for people with those skills. Students enrolled at the college, many of whom live in Northeast Pennsylvania, can fill those positions, he said. 'We're training students that are going to stay here and are working,' Eltringham said. * First-year students Karim Vaquero and Luke Kotcho program robots to draw a shape at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. * First-year student Luke Kotcho provides instructions to a robot at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. * Robots that Robotics and Integrated Technology Program Director Rob Crane and his students utilize in a classrom at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. * Robotics and Integrated Technology Program Director Rob Crane talks about one of the machines in a classroom at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. * First-year student Karim Vaquero gives a robot instructions to draw a shape at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. * First-year student Luke Kotcho programs a robot at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. * First-year student Luke Kotcho maneuvers a robot at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. Show Caption 1 of 7 First-year students Karim Vaquero and Luke Kotcho program robots to draw a shape at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025. Expand Robotics and Automation Program Director Rob Crane takes a hands-on approach to teaching his students different aspects of the fields. 'I think it prepares them in that they can hit the ground running from day one,' he said. Students also learn more that prepares them for the workforce than just the classes in their major. Eltringham said college teaches students skills like communication and how to work with a team. At the University of Scranton, students are required to take English, philosophy, theology and history in addition to the classes in their major. The Rev. Joseph Marina, S.J., the university's president, says these core curriculum classes teach students to be critical thinkers. 'We equip them to be ethical leaders, great communicators,' he said. 'They know how to problem solve at the workplace.' Local higher education institutions are adapting to meet the needs of today's workplace. With technology evolving, students and faculty are learning to use tools like AI to support their work and learning, Marina said. The university has also evolved to accept students of all faiths and celebrates diversity. Technology has also allowed the University of Scranton to expand its degree programs, offering many graduate degrees, most recently psychiatric nursing, online. The construction of the Robert S. and Marilyn A. Weiss Hall on Madison Avenue on the University of Scranton campus will help develop the local workforce, Marina said. Eltringham said the certificate programs offered at Lackawanna College allow students to obtain a certificate, enter the workforce and return for either an associate or bachelor's degree. Pasquerella said colleges need to improve on aligning what students are learning with what they could do for a career. She said e-portfolios and other mechanisms, as well as internships, show students how the skills they're learning connect to careers. 'Just being mindful of the ways in which we can help through the curriculum make those explicit connections between curriculum and career will help them identify not only a job that's going to be high paying, but a job that will help fulfill them throughout their lives,' she said.
