Daily Archives: November 15, 2013
Scranton Mayor Proposes 56 Percent Property Tax Increase; 69 Percent Garbage Fee Hike
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With wary banks watching Scranton‘s finances closely, Mayor Chris Doherty today proposed a $130.5 million budget for 2014 that would dramatically raise real estate taxes, the garbage collection fee and parking-meter rates and penalties.
A real estate tax increase of 56.7 percent would be one of the largest, if not the largest, tax hikes ever in the city. A trash collection fee increase of 68.5 percent – from the current $178 a year to $300 a year – would be the largest garbage fee hike ever.
The large spikes are all necessary to close a $20 million operating deficit for 2014 and restore the city’s creditworthiness with lenders, Mr. Doherty said.
Pottstown Meeting Monday Will Help Chart Montco’s Future
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
POTTSTOWN, PA — Your opportunity to help shape the future begins at 7 p.m. Monday at the Steel River Playhouse.
That is when and where a contingent from the Montgomery County Planning Commission will be on hand to get input from you, the public, as preparations are made to write a new comprehensive plan.
Assembled every dozen or so years, the county comprehensive plan guides development and policy decisions on elements of day-to-day life that range from transportation to recreation; from the economic development to the preservation of natural resources; from housing to health.
The open meeting at the playhouse is the first of four to be held throughout the county “to find out what people want,” said Brian O’Leary, section chief of county planning for Montgomery County.
Daniel Boone SD Looks At Drastic Measures – Again
Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There were no shocked gasps or yelling this time when Dr. Gary L. Otto, Daniel Boone School District superintendent, went through the proposed cuts to balance the 2014-15 budget.
In fact, when it came time for public comment during Wednesday’s school board finance committee meeting, only three residents from the crowd of 50 asked questions, none of which was specifically about the list of cuts.
That’s because the big reveal was nothing new.
The list of potential cuts is almost a carbon copy of what the board discussed during the budget process last year.
Subject Of Manhunt Captured Near Morgantown
Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
After eluding a massive manhunt in southern Berks County for hours and hours, a cold, hungry and tired truck driver must have been drawn by the outdoor security light of the Chestnut Hill Field Archers clubhouse, the club president said Friday.
Larry Buzzard, club president, said there’s a hollow that the wanted trucker could have followed from the spot on Interstate 176 where he crashed Thursday morning and ran from police. That hollow leads to a ridge from which he would have seen the light on the clubhouse, near the Conestoga Landfill in New Morgan, shining like a beacon in a sea of darkness.
“It can be seen for miles,” said Buzzard, who lives in Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County.
State police said Harold A. Davis Jr. broke into the clubhouse on Quarry Road and spent the night.
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