Luzerne County Council to vote on tax break extension, American Rescue consultant

Luzerne County Council is set to vote Tuesday on a real estate tax break extension, a revised American Rescue consultant contract, and two opioid settlement fund earmarks that had been tabled.

As previously reported, Tuesday’s agenda also includes a council confirmation vote on County Manager Romilda Crocamo’s nomination of Ted Ritsick to head the county’s new Community Planning and Economic Development Division at an annual salary of $98,000.

Bluecup Ventures LLC is asking council to extend the real estate tax break construction deadline for its Wilkes-Barre Township warehouse.

The developer said it was powerless to meet the three-year construction commencement deadline in its 2022 tax break agreement with the county due to zoning-related court appeals. It is seeking an extension to the end of 2027 for the Johnson Street project.

Both remaining taxing bodies have already approved the extension of their portions of real estate taxes — the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board (unanimously) and the township council (3-2).

The 65% tax forgiveness for a decade is through the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) program for blighted properties, which applies only to new construction, not the land.

Taxing bodies are receiving a combined total of $600 in taxes on the coal mine-scarred property, Bluecup Attorney Francis Hoegen, of Hoegen & Associates in Wilkes-Barre, had informed council during a work session last month.

Total property tax receipts are projected to exceed $1 million annually during the decade-long break from the 35% paid by Bluecup, Hoegen’s chart said.

American Rescue

An updated contract with the county’s American Rescue Plan Act consultant — Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting — is needed to perform increased monitoring demands and continue coverage through March 2027 to ensure the project closeout is properly executed, the administration said.

Council had retained Booth in June 2022 for its expertise in auditing and other federal compliance requirements.

The proposed $918,180 contract amendment would be paid from interest earnings on the American Rescue Fund, officials said.

If approved, the consultant would receive $2.8 million over five years. This equates to approximately 2.5% of the county’s total $112.89 million American Rescue award.

Company head Robin Booth told council her company’s administrative fees are on the “very low end” compared to the average 10% documented for federal grants.

Opioid awards

Tuesday’s voting agenda also includes the possible adoption of opioid earmarks a council majority had tabled on March 10 due to questions about the county commission that makes settlement fund award recommendations to council.

Council created the Commission on Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement in 2023 to review applications and recommend awards for council’s consideration and final determination.

The commission had taken the position that its meetings were not public based on court case law because it is advisory and not a decision-making body. However, it agreed to meet publicly, starting with its April 1 meeting, after several council members challenged that interpretation.

The tabled requests: $75,000 for Lotus Manor, a Kingston recovery house for women with Opioid Use Disorder; and $149,490 to Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania for its “Give Hope” mobile outreach program, which was established in 2019 to connect with and support the homeless.

After representatives of both entities reiterated the need for their programs on April 1, the commission agreed to resubmit the applications to council with another recommendation to approve them.

More decisions

A $5,000 legal settlement is also on the voting agenda that would close out litigation Richard Musko filed against the county and county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in 2020, the agenda said.

The agenda said Musko owns a storage hangar at the airport in Forty Fort and Wyoming “pursuant to a purported oral agreement made several decades ago.”

Musko has refused the county’s attempts over several years to have him remove his hangar and all personal property from the airport, and he filed a complaint in the county Court of Common Pleas seeking to prevent the removal, the agenda said.

Council is also slated to vote on:

• Adopting a safety action plan that examined all roadways passing through the county — state, county, and municipal — and details solutions aimed at reducing crashes.

• Authorizing an online suicide prevention and intervention training initiative through LivingWorks Education USA that will be available at no cost to all county employees and, eventually, residents and providers to complete at their own pace and schedule.

Using county Mental Health/Developmental Services base funding, the county would purchase 3,000 single-use licenses for $44,850 and have the option to obtain an additional 2,000 licenses for $9,900, if needed, the agenda said.

Tuesday’s council meeting is at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted in council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.