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After two months of review, Luzerne County Council is set to adopt a no-tax-hike 2021 budget Tuesday.
				Based on feedback presented at meetings, most council members support using savings they identified to build a bigger reserve cushion instead of reducing taxes in a dollar amount so small it likely wouldn&rsquo;t be noticed by property owners.
				To date, council has approved approximately $300,000 in cuts to the proposed 2021 budget, including $75,000 already moved to the reserve, analysis shows.
				An additional $150,000 in savings should be possible because the county will be spending less on the tax revenue anticipation loan due to a low interest rate, county Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz has said.
				More proposed reductions, primarily from county Councilman Walter Griffith, also are on Tuesday&rsquo;s agenda for consideration.
				The administration had proposed a $247,200 reserve in next year&rsquo;s budget, which is a reduction from this year&rsquo;s budgeted $472,000.
				Council Chairman Tim McGinley said Sunday he is optimistic the 2021 reserve will increase to approximately $700,000 through the additional transfers.
				In comparison, using that money to reduce taxes would save the owner of a $100,000 property about $2 annually, the administration has said.
				Several council members, including Griffith, said they support the reserve boosting because it will strengthen the county&rsquo;s fiscal situation going forward and help the county weather still-unpredictable coronavirus pandemic impacts on the budget.
				&ldquo;There are still a lot of question marks about what we face going into 2021,&rdquo; McGinley said.
				Credit rating experts recommend a 1% reserve in budgets, which would be about $1.54 million for next year&rsquo;s budget, McGinley has said.
				Reserve funds cannot be spent without council approval, and the administration has rarely asked to touch them in recent years.
				A proposal to transfer all savings to the reserve is still blank on Tuesday&rsquo;s agenda because the amount is unknown.
				Once council has finished voting on all other amendments, McGinley said he expects to pause the meeting for the administration to tally the total dollar amount for council approval.
				Some of the suggested cuts on Tuesday&rsquo;s agenda involve human service branches that have no effect on the general fund operating budget covered by local real estate tax revenue.
				Most relevant to residents is that real estate taxes will remain the same next year, McGinley said.
				The proposed $154.65 million general fund operating budget would keep taxes at 6.1696 mills, which equates to a payment of $616.96 on a $100,000 property.
				Tuesday&rsquo;s virtual meeting starts at 6 p.m.
				Instructions to attend are posted on council&rsquo;s public meetings online link at <a href="https://www.luzernecounty.org/1279/Public-Meetings-Online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">luzernecounty.org</a>.
				Insurance contract 
				In other business Tuesday, county Councilman Harry Haas has asked his colleagues to vote on seeking proposals for insurance broker, saying the current broker did not furnish a detailed, written breakdown on next year&rsquo;s insurance costs and coverage as he had previously requested.
				McGinley said Sunday that the broker &mdash; Pittston-based Joyce Insurance Group &mdash; has since supplied extensive information.
				Haas also complained about rising insurance coverage set to increase from $2.29 million to $2.75 million in the proposed budget. Most significant is a doubling of the liability/casualty insurance from approximately $638,000 to $1.3 million.
				A Joyce company representative told council a $3 million settlement with the estate of deceased county inmate Shaheen Mackey contributed to the rising expense, but he also said government entities across the country are in the same boat due to a rise in litigation over cases involving prisons and police departments.

Luzerne County budget set for adoption Tuesday