Hazleton Passes Budget With A Cut In Property Tax

Downtown Hazleton, PA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON, PA — Not only did a council majority avoid layoffs and deferred paydays for city workers Thursday night, the majority also amended Mayor Joe Yannuzzi’s proposed budget to include a property tax decrease.

Yannuzzi had said he would have to lay off City Hall employees and have police, firefighters and road crews work without pay if council didn’t adopt a stormwater maintenance fee because he already included it as revenue in the 2014 budget. And he needed a balanced budget in order to secure a tax anticipation note — a bank loan to tide the city over until tax revenues start to come in the spring. The loan also would cover salary expenses through the end of 2013.

At a meeting filled with outbursts, shouting matches and arguments among council members, council voted 3-2 to adopt the maintenance fee on a sliding scale that depends on the size of a property owner’s lot and other factors. The owner of an average size lot will have to pay a $25 fee in 2014.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1035150/Hazleton-passes-budget-with-a-cut-in-property-tax

Hazleton City Shutdown Looms Over Deficit

Downtown Hazleton, PA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON, PA — About 50 of the city’s 110 employees might be furloughed as early as Monday and the city is in danger of defaulting on its bills because of a $500,000 budget deficit.

At a press conference Monday, Mayor Joe Yannuzzi unveiled the latest in a string of the city’s financial woes that started last year when it had to raise the real estate tax by 45 percent. As it stands, non-essential employees — primarily office personnel and some public works employees — will not show up for work Monday and City Hall will be closed.

Firefighters and police will work regular shifts and road crews will still plow snow from the streets, Yannuzzi said.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1010850/Hazleton-city-shutdown-looms-over-deficit

‘Drug Houses’ Seized Under Hazleton Plan

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Now that clearly sends a message that drug dealers aren’t welcome in Hazleton!

HAZLETON, PA — In addition to potentially losing her freedom, a woman arrested in a drug raid Friday also could lose her home under a new initiative of the Hazleton Police Department.

After police served a search warrant at 134 Pine Tree Road and arrested the three people inside, a city official posted a dark red sign in the front door window with the word “CONDEMNED.”

“The new idea actually has been on the books for quite some time — using the city’s nuisance property ordinance” to clean up neighborhoods, Police Chief Frank DeAndrea said at a press conference at City Hall Friday afternoon.  “And since the mayor has put code enforcement and the health department under the supervision of the police department, I thought we would attempt to take a new approach.”

When advised Thursday of the operation planned for Friday by his narcotics unit lieutenant, DeAndrea called Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis and requested her view on the city condemning the Pine Tree Road house “because it’s unsafe for human cohabitation, it’s a danger to the community,” DeAndrea said.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/394624/Drug-houses-seized-under-Hazleton-plan