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<p>Luzerne County Council can vote on new matters at Monday night&#8217;s reorganization meeting, but only if a majority supports amending the agenda to add them after a council chair is named, Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo told council in an expanded opinion.</p><p>New and existing council members will be seated together for the first time at a reorganization meeting after they take the oath of office at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. For now, the agenda only contains selection of a chair and vice chair.</p><p>According to Crocamo&#8217;s opinion, obtained from a council member, voting matters could not be added in advance because there will technically be no chair to prepare an agenda and preside over the meeting. The meeting will open with the council clerk acting as temporary chair.</p><p>Incoming Councilman Walter Griffith has said he will ask his colleagues to vote on two matters during this meeting &#8212; reopening the 2020 budget and introducing an ordinance to add a proposed home rule charter amendment on the primary election ballot. The amendment would allow council to obtain its own solicitor instead of relying on the law office.</p><p><strong>Manager feedback</strong></p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri was asked to weigh in on the possibility of council reopening the 2020 county budget during his annual forum last month.</p><p>While stressing the decision is solely up to council, Pedri told forum attendees he believes the spending plan adopted by council is &#8220;pretty bare bones.&#8221;</p><p>Each percentage of a real estate tax hike brings in $1.05 million, which means council would have to come up with more than $3.15 million in cuts and new revenue to erase the 3.25% hike. This increase amounts to $19 more annually on a property assessed at $100,000.</p><p>Pedri said the real estate tax increase is essentially needed to cover $3.7 million in unavoidable increases for health insurance and the employee pension fund subsidy.</p><p>The manager also noted the last budget reopening in 2014 resulted in no tax rate change but delayed the mailing of county and municipal tax bills.</p><p>In response to that 2014 situation, voters later approved a charter amendment requiring six votes &#8212; a majority of the 11 &#8212; to reopen the budget instead of the prior four votes.</p><p><strong>New position</strong></p><p>The county has publicly advertised a new information technology position funded in the 2020 budget.</p><p>A council majority had declined to fund two other new positions &#8212; a second one in IT and a custodian.</p><p>Resumes for the new IT network administrator/security analyst position are due Jan. 9, with information posted under the career opportunities section at <a href="https://www.governmentjobs.com/CAREERS/LUZERNECOUNTY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.luzernecounty.org</a>.</p><p>Advertised at $45,000 to $50,000, the technical and administrative position involves a variety of duties related to the county computer network, which has more than 1,200 users, the posting said.</p><p>The administration has said the new position will help beef up security, which is a need that became apparent in a Memorial Day weekend cyber attack.</p><p><strong>Billboards</strong></p><p>No outside entities responded to the county&#8217;s recent request for proposals to design, construct and operate billboards on county-owned property in various municipalities, the administration said.</p><p>Dec. 30 was the deadline for proposals.</p><p>Billboards were recommended in the county&#8217;s five-year financial recovery plan as a way to generate revenue. The county has identified 13 prospective county-owned billboard sites in six municipalities &#8212; Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming, Forty Fort and Hunlock, Dallas and Jackson townships.</p><p>This was the third time the county sought proposals this year, and the administration is reviewing options.</p><p><strong>Farm lease</strong></p><p>The county also failed to receive any responses to a proposal seeking farmers interested in leasing 146.5 acres of county-owned land in Butler Township for agricultural purposes.</p><p>Proposals were due Dec. 30.</p><p>The land is in three sections, including one along Lions Drive and another off West Foothills Drive, a map shows.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_web1_luzerne-county-courthouse-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County Council majority can opt to vote on more than chair/vice chair Monday night