Lackawanna County is experiencing a budgetary delay due to uncertainties surrounding electricity costs for 2026. The county commissioners had planned to finalize the budget, but unresolved questions about utility expenses have postponed the decision.
Despite the delay, officials anticipate maintaining the current property tax rate. The county’s chief of staff, Brian Jeffers, indicated that without a precise estimate for next year’s electricity costs, proceeding with a vote would be premature. He emphasized, “Without that hard number, it would be hard pressed for you individuals to vote upon that at this moment in time.”
Newly appointed Commissioner Thom Welby welcomed the additional time for further budget review. The county’s reliance on Constellation Energy, which had 37 contracts for electricity provision, is in transition as these contracts reach expiration. Chief Financial Officer David Bulzoni remarked that Constellation did not submit a bid to continue as the provider.
In response, the county is assessing two proposals received from a recent request for proposals. Bulzoni explained, “The lowest cost proposal [we received] represented a 42% increase in electricity cost.”
A Significant Increase in Costs
For this year, the county allocated $1,233,259 for electricity. A projected 42% increase would elevate the expense to over $1.75 million, though potential savings from energy efficiency measures have not been factored in yet.
Bulzoni expects to have more clarity on the savings from an ongoing energy project by the next commissioners’ meeting on December 17. He assured, “We’re not looking at an increase in (tax) millage to cover that (higher) cost.” Rather, any surplus found in initial budget drafts would potentially offset the increased utility expenses.
Commissioner Welby, who was sworn in on November 25, expressed gratitude for the extra review time.
Impact of Property Reassessment
The proposed budget, nearly $180.7 million in total, aims to generate property tax revenues comparable to the current year due to a county reassessment. Legal constraints prevent the county from increasing revenue more than the previous year when reassessment adjustments take effect.
This legal limit has been portrayed by officials as a non-tax-hiking budget. However, reassessment changes mean property owners might face varying tax impacts—some higher, some lower, and some unchanged.
The county had previously increased taxes by 33% to address budget deficits. With the new budget, the tax rate is proposed to decrease significantly to 5.79 mills from 89.98 mills in 2025, aligning with an anticipated rise in total property values to over $24.8 billion from nearly $1.6 billion. To calculate taxes, the formula involves multiplying the tax rate by property value and dividing by 1,000.
