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Rogers, Romine lead RailRiders over Bats

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NASCAR distances itself from Confederate flag

Three prospective buyers of Luzerne County tax-delinquent properties owe back taxes themselves, prompting county council to reject their purchase offers.Such purchases would be prohibited by state law, and county tax-claim operator Northeast Revenue Service LLC conducts fresh searches to ensure there are no tax-delinquent buyers before it turns over deeds, the company&#8217;s head, John Rodgers, has said.But Councilman Harry Haas said Tuesday he wants to make it clear the county was enforcing the law and removing six purchase offers as a result.Brandeaux Grant, New Orleans, Louisiana, owes $827 in back taxes on a property he owns in Foster Township. He wanted to buy four properties for $500 each &#8212; a brick apartment building on Wayne Lane and a storage building at 561 N. Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre and residential structures in Foster Township and Edwardsville.The other sales rejected:&#8226; $500 for a mobile home in Plains Township to Ashley Park LLC, Dunmore, which owes $705 in back taxes on one of its 14 properties.&#8226; $928 for a single home on Ridge Street, Newport Township, to Wilkes-Barre-based Enan LLC which owes $1,227 in back taxes on its property in Pittston.Council voted to sell 39 other properties from the repository, an inventory of real estate that did not sell at prior back-tax auctions.That leaves the county with 864 repository properties, which is more than all 11 other similarly sized counties in the state, records show. The county is liable for repository properties while the owners of record have abandoned them and stopped paying real estate taxes.A council majority also voted Tuesday to:&#8226; Reprogram past-borrowed funds to spend $725,000 for county computerization upgrades and $600,000 to reconstruct the rear courthouse parking lot. The money came from a capital reserve and $1 million that had been earmarked for Moon Lake Park in Plymouth Township.&#8226; Approve a $1.34 million contract with Microsoft Corporation for software and operating system licensing through June 30, 2018. Instead of buying desktop personal computers already loaded with software, the county is switching to devices known as &#8220;thin clients&#8221; that hook up to monitors and retrieve data and updated software stored on central servers.&#8226; Lease a property at 173 E. Green St., Nanticoke, from UDU Realty to house the city active adult center that must move out of the Mercy Special Care Hospital on West Washington Street, which has been sold. The new 6,285-square-foot space will cost the county $5,052 per month, or a total $303,120 over four years.&#8226; Officially repeal a planned junk vehicle ordinance that would have imposed a fine on property owners who keep abandoned cars and automobile parts out in the open in municipalities covered by county zoning.In other business, county Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz told council he is optimistic the county&#8217;s outside auditor will complete the 2014 audit by the June 30 home rule charter deadline. County Manager Robert Lawton had said he would submit his resignation if the deadline is missed.Swetz said the county is still awaiting final audits from Children and Youth and the county Flood Protection Authority needed to complete the countywide 2014 audit.Councilwoman Kathy Dobash read an email communication from Flood Protection Authority Chairman Kevin J. O&#8217;Brien Sr. defending the authority&#8217;s audit delay. O&#8217;Brien, who was unable to attend Tuesday&#8217;s meeting, wrote that the authority auditors were unable to complete their work sooner because they could not obtain necessary information from the county budget/finance department.&#8220;I find it offensive that blame is still passed to the Flood Protection Authority and other agencies for the county audit not being completed in a timely fashion,&#8221; he wrote.Two Hanover Township residents also complained about the lack of gypsy moth spraying this year. County officials said the deadline to participate in state spraying had passed by the time they learned about this year&#8217;s outbreak, but they stressed property owners will have an opportunity to apply for spraying in 2016.The state will cover part of the cost. Lawton said council must determine if the rest of the tab will be picked up by the county or private property owners who participate in 2016 spraying.

Tax defaulters lose bid to buy Luzerne County back-tax properties