Says home rule not a good deal for Pittston City

Let's cut to the chase. The reason Pittston City officials want to change to home rule is simple. They want to raise the wage tax on those of us who are working and they can't do that with the present form of City government. They promise that they will be able to reduce the local property taxes with the revenue from the increase in wage tax. But, they have no concrete numbers to support that claim.

The population of Pittston City is increasingly elderly. Raising the wage tax will not generate enough money to lower property taxes. So we'll have both the highest property tax rate in the county AND higher wage taxes.

Many, many towns in Luzerne County have low property values due to the soft real estate market. If Pittston City has a high wage tax rate and the highest mileage rate on properties, it will discourage people from moving into the City and will further depress our property values.

That's moving Pittston City in the wrong direction. Vote NO on home rule.

Anne Bradbury

Former City Assessor