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Asaf Romirowsky delivers keynote address during ‘Stand with Israel’ event at Jewish Community Center in Wilkes-Barre

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The city council on Thursday approved a balanced $51.5 million budget for mayor-elect Tony George next year, but he made it known he didn&#8217;t support it and cast the lone vote in opposition while still on council.</p><p>The budget proposed by outgoing Mayor Tom Leighton did not contain a property tax hike and projected higher revenues in earned income tax and other fees.</p><p>Councilmembers Bill Barrett, George Brown, Maureen Lavelle and Mike Merritt voted in favor of the budget and every other resolution and ordinance on the agenda including the refinancing of up to $6 million in bonds and the creation of the Wilkes-Barre Sewer Authority.</p><p>Brown, who will not be on council next year and lost to George in the Democratic primary in May, and George explained their budget votes.</p><p>&#8220;My vote does not constitute a vote for Mr. George or Mr. Leighton. The reason why I&#8217;m voting for this is because it&#8217;s a balanced budget and I don&#8217;t think the people of the city Wilkes-Barre can afford another tax increase,&#8221; Brown said.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe it&#8217;s a balanced budget. It&#8217;s balanced on paper,&#8221; George said. &#8220;I think the projections are way up and I know he has over $2 million in unpaid bills now. By the end of the year it will be an additional million dollars.&#8221;</p><p>Leighton responded, as he did numerous times throughout the meeting, to George&#8217;s statements.</p><p>&#8220;At the end of every year, every city will have unpaid bills. We get the fourth quarter money in the first quarter of the next year,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Earlier, Leighton disputed George&#8217;s contention that the creation of the sewer authority would result in the layoff of 19 city employees. George said he based it on the $965,000 in the budget under sewage collection.</p><p>But the mayor said he believed George was referring to the amount the city pays for sewer repairs. He stressed no workers would be laid off.</p><p>Leighton succeeded in his second attempt to create the authority that would have the power to assess pass-through fees to neighboring municipalities whose sewage flows through the city&#8217;s lines. He said the city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars repairing the aging system overtaxed by additional sewage from outside the city.</p><p>Council voted 3-2 against it at the Nov. 5 meeting, but Brown and Lavelle changed their votes to support the first of two readings to create the authority that would operate separate from the city.</p><p>&#8220;The more I thought about it, we have to have the authority,&#8221; Lavelle said.</p><p>Brown added he hoped the authority would be able to sit down with the other municipalities to address problems. &#8220;If we don&#8217;t create it, we can&#8217;t do anything,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Some citizens urged council to hold off with the vote until the new council and mayor take office in January.</p><p>&#8220;This may be a good idea, but I don&#8217;t see why we&#8217;re rushing,&#8221; said Bob Kadluboski.</p><p>John Suchoski said council should let George get the information he requested so he could make an informed vote.</p><p>&#8220;Why would you force something down his throat he obviously isn&#8217;t sure of yet?&#8221; Suchoski asked.</p><p>City Administrator Greg Barrouk said the information George wanted about a study done by consultants Cardno BCM from Plymouth Meeting isn&#8217;t yet available.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t know the answers until the actual study is done and that can&#8217;t be done unless there&#8217;s an authority in place,&#8221; Barrouk explained.</p><p>Barrett maintained his support for the creation of the authority. The city&#8217;s sewer system is more than 100 years old and in need of repairs and the consultants have the expertise on how to proceed, he said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a money-making venture. It is to protect our infrastructure,&#8221; Barrett said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">George </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_George_Tony.jpg</photo0><caption0>George </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Leighton.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Leighton </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Leighton.jpg</photo1><caption1>Leighton </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre council approves 2016 budget, gives go ahead to create sewer authority