Northampton County Executive John Brown warns that the County is in "fiscally troubled waters" that he inherited when he took office. In a rare report to Council at their February 19 meeting, Brown pointed out that revenue from real estate taxes remains flat. Though additional revenues will come in as a result of one mill tax hike approved late last year, those monies will be set aside in order to build up the rainy day found. This year, Brown is also projecting a $9 million drop in intergovernmental revenue provided by the state and federal government to fund human services.
Though revenue is flat, Brown points to these "significant financial needs":
1) Gracedale - $14 million in capital improvements are needed.
2) Human Services Building - It will cost $14.5 million to buy in Year 5 of the lease.
3) A possible Cadillac tax, based on Obamacare, will be $9.4 million tax in 2018, unless things change.
4) $9.3 million in taxable bonds are coming due in 2019 and 2020, and will cost $7 million.
These four needs, all by themselves, will cost the County as much as $45 million in the next five years. This is without considering upgrades to the County's IT or the costs of a Civil War era jail.
Brown is proposing that the County save $9-11 million annually to gather the money needed.
He added it;s still too early to tell whether his reductions in health care coverage have saved any money.But he conceded that the record number of 136 employees who left last year cost the County $4 million.
28 comments:
Adding in the five years of million plus rent for the HS building. Plus all the taxes and maintence the county pays in the lease from Hell. Plus the $21 million on top of that to pay off the human services Building, it is more of a drain than Gracedale. Also even greatly less necessary.
Any outrage over rhtat??
Anonymous at 4:09 am.
I agree with you 100%. The money wasted on that building should be paying for services. I heard them ask the D of Veterans if the building is working out better than Wolf. What a joke.
I think he is just setting up his next attack on the employees. He just changed the employee health care, using the tax excuse. Why else would he decide to grace everyone with comments? He already said the county did not need to raise taxes. What other reason would he have for these comments?
paying for the foolishness of stoffa and company. rid yourself of gracedale and all those union positions - great savings there
"Any outrage over rhtat??"
No, bc you are full of shit. Providing human services is a core function of county government.
The only thing John Brown is good at, is the Blame Game. He did it in Bangor. he did it as a "consultant", and he's doing it now.
Im sure when he can't get it up he blames the healthcare system. "Those damn blue pills are supposed to be covered !"
I kinda feel sorry for the po bahstd
This Bafoon is an idiot. He's just saying all this due to the fact that he has been unwilling to negotiate with the unions. Last year he tells us that there will only be 11 million dollars left in the rainyday fund. It turns out to be 28 million. I don't beleive anything he tells us.
You are an idiot. Much of that "fund balance" is being used to balance the 2015 budget. That county tax increase is probably the last one you will see for the next three years, so other choices need to be made. Unlike Steve Barron, John Brown is actually trying to govern.
It appears to me that Mr. Brown is being blamed here for doing exactly what he should be doing as a leader. That is looking to the future needs of the county.
Planning ahead is the mark of an enlightened mind and an intelligent, thoughtful leader.
I would think that some of the comments come from paranoid and closed minds.
Unfortunately this type of mindset foregoes brainstorming and cooperation amongst other leaders and other contributors to our joint cause of moving the county forward.
On comment accuses Mr. Brown of only being good at the "blame game" Perhaps this person should look in the mirror and open his/her eyes.
Leadership is not a popularity contest. It's all about results.
It appears that Mr. Brown is focused on moving forward and not crying in his milk.
Keep up the good work, John.
A Leader would not constantly blame others. This is the Brownstain M.O. He blames others instead of being that Leader! If he truely is not "crying in his milk", then stop blaming others. Anytime he actually lowers himself to make a statement, he does this. HYPOCRITE!
4:09 AM you must have been sleeping during math class. Bernie has already indicated it will cost $14.5 million to buy out the HS building lease. If you add annual cost of the lease for 5 years plus the fit out costs and other expenses the total cost to the county will be around $22 million for a 66,000 sf state of the art building in a highly desirable location. The county could NEVER have built a building that size for that cost and certainly not in just one year. The county now has a modern, highly accessible building to offer human services in a "one stop" location that will benefit its citizens for decades to come.
State of the art? The building leaks everywhere.
Exaggeration from disgruntled employee who wishes he/she were back in the toxic Wolf building.
"Providing human services is a core function of county government."
Yes it is. But under that umbrella, priorities must still be established. The decision to spend so much on that building was a huge mistake made in the wake of county voters' insistence that Gracedale continue to operated by the county. Without the building, human services would still have been delivered, albeit not from as nice and convenient a location. Northampton County is not in a financial position to have nice and convenient things. Made in a vacuum, the building might have been a great idea that's time had come. Considering its financial strain compounded by Gracedale and other must-haves, the building was a terrible mistake. The county is not living within its means and that's a crime being committed against future generations.
Big mistake? Should the county have kept Bechtel and Wolf and sentence the taxpayers to dump millions into those archaic buildings for upgraded maintenance costs and repairs? Buildings that were inaccessible for citizens with disabilities? Are you NUTZ? The county made the right move selling off those dinosaurs and investing that money into a new building where citizens could better access human services in a "one stop shop." Haters are gonna hate. Stoffa had a wonderful vision that materialized and you hate him for it.
He's still trying to sell this Cadillac tax bullshit? Its been established numerous times that the county doesnt, nor did it ever have a Cadillac health insurance plan!
The Director of the VA spoke to an increase in the number of calls, many of them walk ins, and credits the new Human Services Building and its location as the reason. There are now safe rooms deedicated to supervized visitation, unlike the pigsty at Governor Wolf. This was the right thing to do.
"He's still trying to sell this Cadillac tax bullshit? "
Not really. He is stating that, if nothing happens to Obamacare, this is a possible outcome. It's certainly turue that there are many who believe there will be no tax consequences, but there is a possibility.
He's saving money at the Jail by $h1tcanning everyone Bernie..... And I mean everyone!!!
When can Gracedale legally be sold by NorCo? The referendum had a time frame. Was it five years? Let's restart the effort to sell Gracedale and stop throwing money down the drain. And save the hyperbole about people getting thrown on the street. That was an outrageous lie and it's costing millions each year while we pay double the national average for labor at that albatross. Sell Gracedale.
When can Gracedale legally be sold by NorCo? 15 months
Gracedale can be legally sold now, according to the way Judge Baratta reasoned in his opinion on this matter. But I thgink the people have spoken and believe in democracy, even if I disagree with the result.
anon 10:01, Johnny you got your building. Stop with the pre-packaged ad campaign.
I believe in democracy, too. That's why we have elections every so many years. One election doesn't decide things forever. In the democratic, referendum election, five years was given.. Time's up, per the democratic process. It's time to sell Gracedale.
No one on council or the executive has the political will to sell Gracedale. The voters spoke. They want that money pit to remain in county hands and are willing to pay more in taxes to keep it.
The voters spoke several years ago before the breadth of the financial disaster was known. There's a reason a specified period of time was agreed to by taxpayers. It's time for taxpayers to speak again. What's wrong with that? Things change. Just four years ago, PA voters chose a very conservative R. Four years later, they elected a very liberal D. Given its significant impact on the county's financial future, it would be good for the democratic process to revisit the Gracedale decision. Maybe voters will reinforce their initial choice. Why be afraid of democracy?
I do not disagree with the need to sell Gracedale, but am resigned to the sad reality that there are far more strongly vocal supporters FOR Gracedale than against it. Deal with it!
In four years we can have another referendum, Should the county keep Gracedale, yes or no.
No other BS words or numbers like Angle and Stoffa wanted to play with.
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