Wilkes-Barre on track to team up with collection company to recover insurance costs for emergency service responses

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Wilkes-Barre to enforce ‘No Parking’ zones for street sweeping Friday

PLYMOUTH TWP. &#8212; A hearing on Thursday night seems to indicate that Plymouth Township will soon be emerging from Act 47 status, shedding its &#8220;distressed&#8221; label.Jim Rose, of the Governor&#8217;s Center for Local Government Services, said the township had worked hard to regain fiscal soundness.&#8220;I believe that the city administrator and the elected officials are knowledgeable and principled, well capable of continuing to lead the township in a financially responsible manner,&#8221; said Rose.Rose sited an increase in the Earned Income Tax to 1.5 percent as a source of revenue pivotal to the township&#8217;s success.Rose said that the township&#8217;s transition to a home rule charter form of government in 2011, made it possible for the township to maintain that rate.Gale Conrad, chairman of the township&#8217;s Board of Supervisors, said the township had chosen to raise the EIT rather than the real estate tax because such an increase spared senior citizens an additional tax burden.&#8220;The last thing we want is our residents to retire and then find that they can&#8217;t afford their property taxes,&#8221; said Conrad.Rose said the township&#8217;s willingness to be proactive in extricating itself from distressed status made short- and long-term success possible.He said efforts such as property reassessments and pursuing a home rule charter form of government increased township revenue. That coupled with willingness of the residents and administration to &#8220;bite the bullet&#8221; when it came to spending, made it possible to go from debt of over $800,000 with no credit and very little equipment in January 2004 to being completely out of debt with money in escrow and a full fleet of equipment at the beginning of 2016.He encouraged city leadership to continue to pursue grant money for special projects.Rose also lauded the township&#8217;s ability to work with the state and with each other to make recovery a reality.According to both Rose and Conrad, township Manager Steve Grzymski, who served in that capacity for about 13 years, exhibited leadership and oversight that fueled the recovery.&#8220;We disagreed, but we never fought,&#8221; Rose said of Gryzmski and the supervisors. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t want to waste our energy. We focused on moving forward.&#8221;Conrad&#8217;s voice cracked as she spoke of the assistance of Alan Baranski of Northeastern Pennsylvania&#8217;s Alliance.&#8220;He was with us for a long time,&#8221; she said of Baranski&#8217;s oversight of the township. &#8220;It was a long road.&#8221;She also thanked state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, and state Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, for their support and availability.Rick Vilello, executive director of the Governor&#8217;s Center and the hearing master, said it is always a pleasure to attend such a hearing.&#8220;I am really, really honored to be able to share in this success&#8221; he said.Resident Dorothy McDermott said she was attending the hearing as a show of support for the township she has called home for 48 years.Her husband has lived in the township since he was 4 years old.She said she successfully raised five children there, and, now at 73, is enjoying the safety and quietness of township.She fondly remembers her children&#8217;s paper route, which put spending money in their pockets.&#8220;I did much of the delivering,&#8221; she said. &#8220;People still recognize me and thank me. That is the nature of this area.&#8221;As for the recovery process, she said it didn&#8217;t have any effect on services for her family, crediting township leadership with long-term concern for its residents.The state will now have 30 days to make a determination as to whether Plymouth Township will be given leave to exit Act 47 status.&#8220;I&#8217;m hoping to be back here again signing final exit documentation in the near future,&#8221; said Vilello. &#8220;Well done, Plymouth Township.&#8221;<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Official credits hard work for return to fiscal soundness</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Geri Gibbonsggibbons@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons</shirttailMeta></div>

Plymouth Township set to leave Act 47 status