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Their view: Political posturing after Vegas is repellent

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Mayor Tony George won&#8217;t rely on a property tax increase to balance his proposed 2018 budget, he said Friday, but that plan hinges on ongoing contract negotiations with unions that represent city workers.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of things we have to do so we don&#8217;t have to have a tax increase,&#8221; the mayor said.</p><p>At the top of the list are the talks with two of the four unions representing the nearly 300 city employees.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of it depends upon the negotiations with the contracts. There has to be concessions or the budget doesn&#8217;t work,&#8221; George acknowledged.</p><p>The city has been dealing with the Laborers&#8217; International Union of North America Local 1310 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 401. Local 1310 represents City Hall employees and emergency medical technicians. Local 401 represents Department of Public Works employees. The unions agreed to a one-year extension of the contract that expired last year and gave them 3 percent raises.</p><p>The short-term deals were preferable because the city is in poor financial shape. The administration wanted to wait until the bond deal that restructured its debt service was approved before trying to work out multi-year contracts with the unions.</p><p>The city is awaiting an arbitrator&#8217;s decision for the Wilkes-Barre Fire Department Local 104 of the International Association of Fire Fighters. And the Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association&#8217;s contract runs through 2019.</p><p>The proposed budget is due by Oct. 15, but that falls on a Sunday this year and the administration is working to get it ready earlier. Budget preparations are expected to wrap up by early next week. The Columbus Day holiday Monday could delay the public presentation planned for Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;If not, it will be Friday,&#8221; George said.</p><p>Regardless of the day, the proposed budget won&#8217;t contain a property tax increase to follow the 19.7-mill hike this year, he said.</p><p>&#8220;No, there&#8217;s none,&#8221; George said.</p><p>The millage rate will remain at 141.33 mills. A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value.</p><p>However, Wilkes-Barre is the only municipality in Luzerne County that does not use the county&#8217;s assessments. According to the city, a property with an assessed value of $79,500, the median value in Wilkes-Barre, would pay $1,033 in annual property taxes. The additional 19.7 mills boosted the tax by $144 or $12 a month. It also was budgeted to add $1.5 million in revenue to the general fund and raise the line item for property tax to $11.7 million.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">George </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL011517George1-cmyk.jpg</photo0><caption0>George </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></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 @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre mayor says no property tax hike in proposed 2018 budget