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In Focus: Barber’s retirement cuts hole in heart of Luzerne’s Main Street

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MaKeinzy Backley

Plymouth Township officials wanted to give property owners a real estate tax break when the municipality paid off a $510,000 financial recovery loan obtained a decade ago.But now that the milestone is near, the plan has changed.The township volunteer fire department&#8217;s own battle with finances, which started brewing last year, has waylaid the possibility of a property tax reduction when the township is debt-free and possibly out of the state Act 47 program for distressed municipalities by the end of the year, officials say.The estimated $25,000 in savings the township had planned to return to property owners &#8212; half of the debt repayments that will no longer be required &#8212; instead must be forwarded to Plymouth Township Fire and Rescue to help pay off a $600,000 loan the department secured in 2008 to fund renovations at its Tilbury Station, township officials say.The department is required to pay $2,836 per month, or $34,020 annually, on the loan and a line of credit for two more decades, township officials said.No tax breakWhat are property owners giving up as a result?A township report says $25,000 equates to about 0.275 mills. The owner of a property assessed at $50,000 would save $13.75 annually with a 0.275-mill reduction. The savings would double to $27.50 on a property assessed at $100,000.Township officials have scheduled a special informational meeting at 6 p.m. Monday to brief residents on the change in plans and expected exit from Act 47.Rejecting the fire department&#8217;s plea for assistance would hurt the township because the municipality is legally required to provide fire protection and would be forced to pay an outside entity for the service if the township department folded, township officials say.Relying on a neighboring municipality also would increase response times, officials say.Township supervisors expect many property owners will be disappointed but will understand the need for continued sacrifice to help the fire department.&#8220;The fire company provides a vital service,&#8221; said Supervisor Joe Yudichak.Supervisor Gale Conrad said citizens depend on the fire department to protect life and property.&#8220;I think every community is grateful, whether the department is paid of volunteer, and we have to provide that service,&#8221; she said.Loan neededSylvia Nash, the fire department&#8217;s secretary/treasurer, said the loan was needed to renovate the fire station on East Poplar Street.Adjoining the old Harter School building, the Tilbury Station needed a new roof and furnace, renovations to make the facility accessible to the disabled and other upgrades, Nash said. The loan also funded a new generator to ensure the building has electricity because it serves as a public disaster center during power failures, extreme heat and other emergencies, Nash said.&#8220;We had to improve the facilities so we could take care of the people in the community. This is a place where they can sit and have something to eat and obtain supplies in emergencies,&#8221; she said.The repayments were feasible at the time the loan was secured because the department was generating more revenue from fundraisers, she said.A weekly bingo game, one of the main moneymakers back then, has since been cancelled due to declining participation, Nash said.&#8220;We had to stop bingo because we started to lose money on it,&#8221; she said.Nash blames competition from casino gambling, a loss of residents due to flood buyouts and a state law that forced the department to stop faithful players from smoking in their own section during bingo games.The department still holds a spring spaghetti dinner and periodic walk/runs and hopes to bring in significant returns from its main fundraiser, &#8220;Horror Hall,&#8221; which opens Sept. 25 at the old Harter School, she said.&#8220;We&#8217;re up there every night after work to get that up and running,&#8221; Nash said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not like we&#8217;re not trying to do anything. We&#8217;re not sitting back on our laurels.&#8221;The &#8220;100 percent volunteer&#8221; department provides round-the-clock coverage and also assists fire crews in neighboring municipalities when possible, she said.&#8220;When that pager goes off, our volunteers are out of bed to take that call,&#8221; she said.The department also receives approximately $20,000 in revenue annually from a mix of other taxes, township records show.Nash said the additional $25,000, which the department also obtained last year and this year, covers bills from July through September. The department forwards the bills to the township for payment, as opposed to receiving the cash, she said.&#8220;It&#8217;s not like they&#8217;ve been paying for the whole year. It&#8217;s what we need to get through the year because what they&#8217;re giving us through the taxes and what we bring in from donations isn&#8217;t quite enough,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We&#8217;re just trying to do the best we can.&#8221;Unpaid billsTownship officials entered Act 47 in 2004 because unpaid bills had piled up, leading to the discovery that expenses far exceeded revenue.In addition to cutting the police department and raising the earned income tax, township officials pushed for grants and hunted for other cash and savings.Conrad said reminders to turn off lights were hung in the municipal building, and township Manager Steve Grymski shopped around for the best insurance and phone prices, discovering the township had been insuring equipment it no longer owned.The township also paves and mills streets in-house and has started resurfacing streets in neighboring municipalities to generate revenue, Yudichak said.Township officials plan to put the remaining $25,000 from debt repayments no longer needed into a reserve to fund the local match for a sewer project and pump station upgrade and future emergencies.One option they didn&#8217;t consider: a state recommendation to more than double property taxes, Yudichak said.Township property taxes have remained at the equivalent of $138.60 on a property assessed at $100,000 throughout the ordeal, officials said.&#8220;The last thing we wanted to see is residents become senior citizens here and lose their homes because of not being able to afford property taxes,&#8221; Conrad said. &#8220;We were adamant that we would not raise property taxes.&#8221;Realistic budgetsJim Rose, a local government policy specialist with the state who has been assisting the township under Act 47, said township officials have &#8220;set themselves to be on firm ground&#8221; financially with realistic budgeting, timely bill payment, clean financial records and sound future planning.&#8220;It means they should be capable of handling a curve ball appropriately, and we believe that&#8217;s the case,&#8221; he said.Municipalities seeking removal from Act 47 must hold a public hearing and send a request to the state, which will make a determination, Rose said.Conrad, who took office around the time the fiscal calamity was discovered, said township residents have been supportive.&#8220;We have to thank the people in the community for having faith in us and working with us,&#8221; she said.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Plymouth Township Supervisors Gale Conrad and Joe Yudichak. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_plymouthtwp_crop2_toned1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Plymouth Township Supervisors Gale Conrad and Joe Yudichak. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jennifer Learn-Andesjandes@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</shirttailMeta></div>

No Plymouth Township tax break because fire department needs financial assistance