Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti budget proposal for 2025 it would not increase taxes or change the garbage collection rate.

City’s no-tax-hike budget proposal follows Scranton School District’s proposal to not raise taxes by 2025, while Lackawanna County commissioner majority plans 33% county tax hike next year .

The city’s $113.1 million budget proposal presented to the Scranton City Council is $5.6 million less than the $118.7 million revised 2024 budget.

The 2025 budget says it “does not increase the city’s real estate tax rates” and makes no mention of changes to the rates of any other taxes the city collects, including wages (earned income), payroll, utilities local and real estate transfer taxes. .

The $300 annual trash fee would remain unchanged.

“We have managed expenses and mitigated rising costs to the best of our ability, including reducing healthcare costs while maintaining excellent employee health plans and reducing budget lines to fund only what is necessary.” , according to a budget narrative.

A lower 2025 total annual budget than 2024 is achieved in part by a decrease of approximately $8.6 million in the city’s contribution to its pension system, which fell from $18.4 million to $9.7 million, attributed to a 40-year pension amortization the city entered into with the Commonwealth that will end Dec. 31; as well as moving $3.7 million in capital expenditures from the operating budget to a separate capital budget.

Refinancing debt starting in 2016 saved $2.2 million. The city’s credit rating also got a two-notch jump and a positive outlook for improving the “liquidity” of cash reserves and not relying on one-time federal stimulus funds to fill the gaps. The city will also not need a short-term tax-ahead loan to provide cash flow until tax collections arrive, saving $100,000 in fees and interest.

“While our cash position is stable, we have a long way to go toward true fiscal health, given legacy pension, health care and other benefit obligations,” the budget says.

The budget details various ups and downs of income and expenses. Some other highlights include:

• Overall real estate assessments will continue to decline through 2026, when a countywide revaluation takes effect. While tax revenues may not increase as a direct result of the reassessment, the process and results should create a fairer and more equitable tax base and build confidence among potential buyers and investors.

• A strong housing market generated more than $7 million in delinquent property tax collections in 2023 and 2024 to date, and the city expects to collect $4.2 million in these delinquent property taxes next year. The city also expects to see an approximate $2.5 million increase in real estate transfer taxes in 2025. But the early sale of the for-profit Commonwealth Health system and its Moses Taylor and Regional hospitals in the city to the nonprofit for-profit WoodBridge Healthcare would result in the city losing $835,625 in property taxes.

• Earned income (wage) tax revenue has been rising steadily for several years, and the budget plans to raise $1.3 million more next year, for a total of $35.9 million in wage taxes. Payroll tax collections also increased from 2023, the first year of this tax, to 2024 to date, and the city is budgeting for this category to double to $2.7 million collected next year.

• Minimum funding required for workers’ compensation will increase from $3 million this year to $3.9 million next year.

• The annual salaries of the mayor ($75,000), council members ($12,500 each), city comptroller ($53,300) and tax collector ($26,650, half of the city’s salary) would remain the same.

• The budget provides generally incremental pay increases across the board for 500 employees, including union employees under contract labor and non-union employees. Proposed salary increases for some department heads include:

13.9% for the business administrator, from $86,700 in 2024 to $98,750 in 2025, or $12,050 more.

13.9% for the municipal attorney, from $86,700 to $98,750 or $12,050 more.

13.9% for the director of information technology and innovation, from $79,025 to $90,000, or $10,975 more.

3.5% for the police chief, from $113,312 to $117,278, or $3,966 more.

3.5% for fire chief/emergency management coordinator, from $109,000 to $112,815, or $3,815 more.

The budget also contains a salary comparison of comparable municipalities in the state and Lackawanna County. “There is still a significant gap in our wages compared to similar cities in Pennsylvania; however, we have made progress and continue to seek competitive salaries for current and future staff. City employees need to pay their mortgages, too,” the budget narrative says.

• Seven new positions in the 2025 budget include five interim police officers, a public safety specialist in the Information Technology department and a signal/traffic maintenance employee in the DPW.

Cognetti presented the budget proposal to the council on Wednesday, October 30. The next regular weekly council meeting was rescheduled from Tuesday, November 5 to Thursday, November 7 at 6:30 pm at City Hall, because Tuesday is Election Day. Therefore, next Thursday would be the earliest the council could begin discussing or debating the budget proposal or introducing legislation to enact it, beginning a process that would unfold over several weeks.