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WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A public hearing held Tuesday by the City of Wilkes-Barre Finance Authority was missing one thing: the public.Held to field public comment regarding the potential financing of a project for the University of Scranton, the hearing drew zero members of the public and concluded after fifteen minutes. Jim Ryan, authority secretary and Wilkes-Barre City clerk, said it wasn&#8217;t uncommon that people didn&#8217;t attend finance authority hearings.&#8220;I can&#8217;t recall anybody from the public in the past ever showing up,&#8221; Ryan said. &#8220;Maybe one or two.&#8221;The finance authority acts as a channel for organizations to secure tax-exempt bonds, allowing universities and similar institutions to borrow as a lesser cost.The private Catholic and Jesuit university, located in Lackawanna County, had asked the authority to issue revenue bonds up to but not exceeding $56 million to finance the refunding of the Pennsylvania Higher Educational Facilities Authority University of Scranton Revenue Bonds and payment of the costs for issuing the bonds.Brett Kittrick, city finance director and member of the finance authority board, said the university will be issuing tax-exempt debt through the finance authority.Basically, Kittrick said, the financing would amount to cheaper debt and lower interest rates for the university. The authority collects a one-time issuance fee in return. In addition, the authority receives an annual $1,250 fee every year the bonds are outstanding.In 2013, the authority donated almost $40,000 to the city toward the purchase of a police vehicle.Kittrick said it wasn&#8217;t uncommon for organizations outside Wilkes-Barre to approach the authority.Ryan said both local and regional organizations have an opportunity to utilize the same services. Neither the city nor its taxpayers are liable for any payment or interest on any obligations issued by the authority.&#8220;Really for the authority and the city, it&#8217;s a win-win,&#8221; Kittrick said. &#8220;We&#8217;re involved but we&#8217;ve basically just reaped the benefits without any of the liability.&#8221;During Wilkes-Barre City Council&#8217;s May 26 work session, council members raised questions over a resolution that would have approved the financing, but the resolution was removed from the agenda at council&#8217;s regular session later that week so members could review the authority&#8217;s past transactions.In the past, Ryan said the authority had similar agreements with King&#8217;s College, Wilkes University, Catholic Social Services and most recently Little Flower Manor.Representatives of the university will make their formal proposal before council during the June 9 work session at City Hall.&#8220;Any questions that (council members) have, obviously the purpose of the work session is to address that, flesh it out to see if there are any answers to be gotten before Thursday&#8217;s meeting,&#8221; Ryan said.

City of Wilkes-Barre Finance Authority holds public hearing over University of Scranton project