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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Mayor Tony George expects to hit pay dirt next year in the empty lots where three major construction projects are planned and balance his $52.6 million budget with building permit fees.</p><p>The more than $1.7 million in fees will offset increased pension costs and keep property taxes at the current millage rate in the budget George presented Tuesday at City Hall as he prepares to leave office.</p><p>George acknowledged the boom could go bust if the one-time revenue sources don&#8217;t materialize.</p><p>&#8220;We were $2 million short without these windfalls, so it should be $2 million and that $2 million came from the increase in pension costs,&#8221; George responded to a question about the potential deficit scenario.</p><p>The city&#8217;s contributions to the five pension plans &#8212; two each for fire and police and one for non-uniformed employees &#8212; totaled approximately $1.6 million, when the increases in the proposed budget were added together. When the pensions were combined with other benefits and payroll, the total reached $36.5 million or 69% of the expenses in the budget.</p><p>On the revenue side property taxes were budgeted at $11.5 million and the line item entry for earned income taxes was $14.6 million. Their combined total of $26.1 was approximately half of the total revenue.</p><p>George pointed out he raised taxes once in his four-year term, back in 2017 when property taxes increased by 19.7 mills to the current rate of 141.33 mills. A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value. Unlike the other 75 municipalities that use Luzerne County&#8217;s assessments, Wilkes-Barre has its own.</p><p><strong>Project fees</strong></p><p>&#8220;I am pleased to be introducing another budget without a tax increase. However, the city will once again have to rely on non-recurring revenue sources to avoid any further burden on the taxpayers,&#8221; George said.</p><p>The proposed budget included fees from two mixed-use projects each involving a hotel and conference center, apartments or condominiums and retail space announced for the former Hotel Sterling site and the corner of South Main and West Northampton streets. Additionally, the Luzerne County Transportation Authority bought the former Murray Complex along South Pennsylvania Avenue to relocate its bus garage and offices from the West Side.</p><p>Former Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry executive Steve Barrouk, who&#8217;s working with Gateway Center Associates on the $32 million Sterling project, said it&#8217;s moving forward.</p><p>&#8220;We hope to be under construction in 2020. That&#8217;s our goal,&#8221; Barrouk said.</p><p>Last week City Administrator Rick Gazenski said Sphere International LLC expects to have demolition done by Christmas for its estimated $28 million project at Northampton and Main streets and finish construction next year.</p><p>The LCTA also set a demolition date of next year for its project, estimated between $22 million and $27 million.</p><p><strong>Brown listens in</strong></p><p>Eager to hear what the mayor had to say his apparent successor George Brown sat in on the budget message that must be presented by Oct. 15 by the city Charter.</p><p>Brown, a former city councilman from South Wilkes-Barre, defeated George in the May Democratic primary. Without any opposition on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election, Brown is expected to win.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll be reviewing the budget &#8230; line by line and looking at the numbers. I&#8217;ll be comparing what outstanding bills do we have and then taking that budget and see where I can make changes,&#8221; Brown said.</p><p>&#8220;I have the opportunity to submit my own budget up until Feb. 15 and make any changes. And then council decides which budget they feel is more appropriate,&#8221; Brown added.</p><p>Brown accepted the cut in pay that George budgeted for the mayor. The annual salary dropped to $60,000 &#8212; the amount Brown said he would take as mayor &#8212; from the $82,000 George receives. Brown, who has Medicare coverage, further declined to take health insurance from the city. George&#8217;s coverage was budgeted at $29,915 this year.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a total of $51,000 every year I&#8217;m giving back to the citizens. So over four years it&#8217;s over $200,000,&#8221; Brown said.</p><p>Still a private citizen, Brown said he was not privy to the sale of the sewer lines that George touched on during his budget presentation.</p><p>George said the sale would bring in an estimated $30 million and be used to pay for the annual pension obligations. A Request For Qualifications was put out months ago, followed by a Request For Proposals, George explained. Two firms responded and more details will be disclosed Friday.</p><p>The sale proceeds, another one-time revenue source, would keep any ideas of asking the state for distressed municipality status under Act 47 at bay, George said. Last year the state denied his request for Act 47 and told him to pursue other measures through the state&#8217;s Early Intervention Program to stabilize municipal finances.</p><p>There aren&#8217;t many assets left to sell, Brown noted.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve not been in favor of selling assets that are revenue-producing,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;I lean more towards leasing them where we still own the assets and other people take over the cost of it.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mayor Tony George, left, and his expected successor next year, George Brown, talk after Tuesday morning&#8217;s budget presentation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_TTL101619Budget1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mayor Tony George, left, and his expected successor next year, George Brown, talk after Tuesday morning&#8217;s budget presentation. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_TTL101619Budget4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mayor Tony George talks about the Wilkes-Barre budget at Tuesday morning&#8217;s budget presentation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_TTL101619Budget4-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mayor Tony George talks about the Wilkes-Barre budget at Tuesday morning&#8217;s budget presentation. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>George&#8217;s $52.6M budget plan holds line on taxes, anticipates $1.7M in fees</subheadMeta></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>

$52.6M WB budget plan anticipates $1.7M in fees