Luzerne County Election Board still reviewing Nov. 2 general election ballots

Luzerne County’s volunteer citizen election board is expected to conclude its Nov. 2 general election ballot adjudication Monday but must immediately start preparing for a mandated statewide recount in the Commonwealth Court race, said County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo.

The recount must start by Wednesday, she said.

The state is not requiring the county to perform a hand recount, which would have forced the county to assign bipartisan teams to manually review each ballot individually, Crocamo said.

Instead, the county will be permitted to rescan all paper ballots using electronic tabulators, she said.

The second- and third-place finishers in the Commonwealth Court race — Democrat Lori A. Dumas and Republican Drew Crompton — have unofficial vote totals within the one-half of one percent margin that triggers a mandatory recount under state law.

Republican Stacy Marie Wallace secured one of the open Commonwealth Court seats based on unofficial vote counts, the state said.

Council meeting

Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2022 budget at 5 p.m. Monday followed by a work session to discuss budget proposals for the human services and correctional services divisions.

The hearing and work session will be at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for a remote attendance option posted under the council online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Human Services

The human services division is seeking a county general fund operating budget allocation of $8.7 million next year, which is about the same as it’s 2021 earmark, the proposed budget shows.

A breakdown of the requested county funds:

• Veteran Affairs, $360,918

• Children and Youth, $6.9 million

• Mental Health/Developmental Services, $158,821

• Human Services Administration, $92,470

• Drug and Alcohol, $175,850

The total $8.7 million also includes a $1.02 million match for a block grant.

No county contribution is listed for the county’s Area Agency on Aging.

With additional funds from the state government and other revenue sources factored in, the budget for these departments collectively exceeds $100 million.

Correctional Services

The correctional division is seeking $29.88 million in 2022, which would be an increase of $709,000, according to a review of the current and proposed budgets.

On the revenue side, the division projects it will bring in $919,314, which is approximately $111,000 less.

This budget covers the prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre, the minimum offenders building on nearby Reichard Street and correctional administration.

Flood authority

A council majority voted last week to approve a change in the county Flood Protection Authority’s articles of incorporation that the authority needs to assist Duryea with its planned levee upgrade.

The county authority oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system along the Susquehanna River.

Duryea officials have said they want to pay the county authority to maintain the borough levee when it is upgraded to ensure it continues to meet required standards, saying the borough does not have that expertise.

No Wyoming Valley levee fee funds will be used for the Duryea levee, and payments made by the borough will be segregated, authority officials have said.

Capital fund

The county’s dwindled capital projects fund will receive a slight boost.

With only $120,864 in unencumbered funds remaining to cover emergency repairs, council voted last week to transfer $175,000 into the fund from delinquent taxes related to the sale of the former Poseidon Pools property in Wright Township.