It's a lean budget. It's a mean budget. Taxpayers will love it. Employees will hate it. Northampton County Exec Lamont McClure introduced his 2023 spending plan yesterday during a news conference attended by Controller Bucky Szulborski and Council members Lori Vargo Heffner, John Goffredo and Tom Giovanni. He proposes spending $544.8 million.
Taxpayers should love this. His budget is actually 4.5% smaller than it was in 2022. He has reduced debt service payments by $7.1 million. He wants to upgrade the county's 911 system. Most importantly, he holds the line on real estate taxes at 10.8 mills. This means a home assessed at $75,000 will receive a tax bill next year for $810. Two years ago, that same home would have seen a $885 tax bill. The budget is also balanced.
Open space enthusiasts should also appreciate this budget. For the fifth year in his five years as Exec, McClure plans to fully fund all open space programs, from farmland preservation to an ambitious parks acquisition program. Northampton County is already on track this year to preserve a record number of farms. The County has little authority to stop what McClure likes to call "warehouse proliferation," along with the concomitant truck traffic. But when developable land is available, McClure has been purchasing it.
Although a half billion dollar budget is a lot of money, only 18% comes from real estate taxes. Over half comes from the state and federal government as pass-through money to fund various county human services programs. And 20% comes from the county's fund balance, which is basically the equivalent of a family's checking account.
Gracedale, the county-owned nursing home, requires no county contribution. It has a separate budget of $103 million.
McClure has long maintained that the county's fund balance, which usually hovers at around $60 million, is far too high. When he was on County Council, he annually tried to reduce it and even wrote an op-ed complaining about it. As Executive, he has been working to reduce it. He has set aside $17 million as a stabilization fund, which you could call a "rainy day" fund. This includes two months of expenses. He has also set aside about $6 million against a possible resurgence of COVID-19.
While taxpayers and open space enthusiasts should be pleased, career service (nonunion) employees will be unhappy to learn that McClure is proposing only a 3% cost of living adjustment for them. Last year, they received a step, which is about 5%. Administration officials explained that the raises were kept at 3% to maintain parity with the county's union workforce.
The only county career service employees getting more are the three people working for County Council. Council has already proposed they get collectively a six per cent payhike. Council can remedy this by decreasing this payhike or increasing the COLA of remaining workers, but they would need to find a place to make a cut in a budget that is 4.5% leaner than last year.
McClure noted that the County spends more on personnel than anything else. In addition to wages, this includes health care benefits, a defined benefit pension plan that is nonexistent in the private sector, paid vacation, personal time and sick time. He noted that the cost of the workforce has grown from $141.6 million two years ago to $160.3 million today. It has risen nearly 14% when total compensation is considered.
Now that the budget has been proposed by the Executive, it is up to County Council. President Lori Vargo Heffner said hearings will start Wednesday. There are usually five hearings, followed by possible amendments. They must act by December 16 or McClure's budget is automatically adopted.
Council can reject the budget. But under our Home Rule Charter, that also means McClure's budget will be automatically adopted.
What Council can do is amend the budget although they are prohibited from interfering with the Executive's revenue projections. If they want to fund something, they will need to cut somewhere else.
Updated 9:00 am; You can see proposed budget details here.
ReplyDeleteMcClures statements about 3% COLA for non union (career Service) employees is utterly ridiculous. He isn't an Executive. He is a clown. We are so underpaid now he only furthers our problem. He thinks by screwing his employees he is doing something for the taxpayer. Now there will be more people leaving and no one wanting the jobs. He shafts the employees and I hear from retirees he is sticking it to them royally. I have a few months to go and good riddance to the County. What was once a great place to work is now the asshole of the County. In your statement you say the bulk of our pay comes from other sources than the County real estate taxes. If this is the case, then higher wages should be a no brainer. We have families to feed. Council should do the right thing and raise our salaries just like they did for the Council employees. What a poor excuse for a human being.
3% is an insult. With inflation and costs at all-time highs, he screws employees even more? We know he is your guy but that is shameful. Money will go to influential groups and companies the area. He will throw the council people under the bus like other branches, but he is sure to be give some of his people steps. By the way it is time to stop letting the king of the county play with steps and colas. I thought that steps were given until you hit the end of your scale. Now it is just a bs game played by the executive at his whim. Go ahead keep praising him since you are his enabler.
ReplyDelete"The only county career service employees getting more are the three people working for County Council. Council has already proposed they get a step, and with a 3% COLA, they will be seeing eight per cent payhikes."
ReplyDeleteTold this is not entirely true. And yes, Council should approve a step for all employees. The unions butt hurt feelings for selling out their members to their pal on the cheap is their problem. Bitch to your bought off leaders.
Enjoy that "no property tax increase" from the county while it's fresh. Your school districts are going to slam you in 23-24. The Act I index numbers are out. These are the percentages your district can raise taxes without getting permission to exceed that rate.
ReplyDeleteBangor Area SD 5.4
Bethlehem Area SD 4.9
Easton Area SD 5.4
Nazareth Area SD 4.8
Northampton Area S 5.1
Pen Argyl Area SD 5.2
Saucon Valley SD 4.1
Wilson Area SD 5.4
Granted, many of them will not raise to the index but be prepared. Your district may be hitting you hard next summer.
Oh, and in Lehigh County's Allentown, that number is 6.3%. Get ready.
McClure is protecting taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless Lamont !
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent budget.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of the workforce has grown in our division for many reasons. Training costs are extremely high, and retention is abysmal. This, in turn, puts the overtime budget through the roof, as we cannot replace all the exiting staff. The vacation and personal time are wonderful but the time can't be used when we are this severely understaffed....which causes more folks to run for the door...
ReplyDeletemaybe they should stop all the double dipping in sheriffs office, if you already have a paycheck like half the cops who are now sheriffs then you should be hiring fulltime people who have no job, all these parttime cops do is sit around at the local cafe's anyway!!
ReplyDeleteWe are fortunate to have an Exec who looks out for the people who pay the bills.
ReplyDeleteSteve Barron threads the needle and hits another home run here. Maybe the Phillies should sign him for their playoff roster!
ReplyDelete""The only county career service employees getting more are the three people working for County Council. Council has already proposed they get a step, and with a 3% COLA, they will be seeing eight per cent payhikes."
ReplyDeleteTold this is not entirely true. And yes, Council should approve a step for all employees. The unions butt hurt feelings for selling out their members to their pal on the cheap is their problem. Bitch to your bought off leaders."
The proposed budget shows salaries for just three people in that office increasing from $361,100 to $382,500. It is a six per cent increase and I will correct my story.
7:17 AM.....7:23 AM.....7:41 AM.....and 7:54 AM are Steve Barron and Dirtinger trying to protect their boss. They give him poor advice and then try to justify the outcome by praising his decisions on this blog. If anyone should get credit for these years of no tax increase budgets it is County Executive Brown. It's a known fact and the joke around the government center that He raised our taxes so high, no executive should have to raise taxes again for ten years. He's to blame for creating this monster that now sits in the Executives Office.
ReplyDeleteIt is 8% for the full-time employees.
ReplyDeleteOnce again it is laughable. The county executive gets up there and admits he and previous officials have lied to county employees, unions and arbitration officials for years. They always say there is no money in the budget for steps . But just admitted to the people of Northampton county and employees that they have an " gentleman agreement " to keep extra money set aside for what ever they want.. How many times has he said sorry no money left to the employees.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is this gentleman agreement?? That's how this county works with budgets lying to tax payers saying they need this money so keep taxes high . Thinking it's time another type of study. An independent one about where all the cash is. Having a county executive admit they did things on a somewhat shady way not good. We have a checks and balance for a reason. Not for a gentleman agreement. But he would just veto that.
More trips to Las Vegas. New Orleans, have renovations at the jail going over budget by millions of dollars, oh and by the way guess who's running that Ken Kraft Lamonts buddy. I would be watching every dollar and looking for kickbacks. But hell. Get a county executive tell the people of Northampton county they have been doing shady things for years who cares.
McClure didn't wreck the economy that's bringing county employees to their knees. Although, he and a lot of those employees voted for the overheated spending spree policies that brought us to this point. Those who didn't expect a reckoning were/are naïve. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better until interest rates exceed inflation and start to cool this mess.
ReplyDeleteThe half-pregnant .75 increases are only prolonging the misery. The housing market has been murdered and the fed should just rip off the band-aid. Things aren't better in the private sector, as school tax bills are going to be alarming. Teachers unions get paid before everybody in Pennsylvania. Jeanette Reibman lives on and continues to rob your wallet while you sleep. If you ever voted for her, you deserve to pay everyone's skyrocketing school taxes.
I think you missed the part in which McClure stated he's always been vehemently opposed to setting aside a fund balance of $60 million. I know because he and I tangled on that issue in dueling op-eds.
ReplyDeleteAs for Kraft running, that will be a decision for the voters of District 1. I agree he's hopelessly compromised and I could never view him as an independent check and balance on the Exec, especially after working for him. But he'll be running in a heavily Dem district. Unless another Dem primaries him, he'll glide to victory.
Bottom line, the responsibility for the pressures County employees now face is due to a NATIONWIDE condition of too high inflation. The root cause of these higher living expenses is the result of poor decisions by your representatives in Washington, D.C. Our County is unable to match all these rises in costs. Costs it also faces.
ReplyDeleteMassive increases in energy, food, fuel, etc. we’re not created at the County level! Our Federal and State level leaders have brought this difficult condition upon all of us. Switch out most of those decision makers to have any hope for improvement. We’ll be getting a new Senator, need different people in Congress, AND a different administration in Harrisburg.
The road back begins in November. Take it.
I wish everyone would read this
Deletehave renovations at the jail going over budget by millions of dollars, oh and by the way guess who's running that Ken Kraft Lamonts buddy. I would be watching every dollar and looking for kickbacks.
ReplyDeleteMillions over budget?
11:45
ReplyDeleteIt’s not Biden administration that is hurting us.
it’s Trumps administration that is the cause of all this inflation. If Trump would have taking a stronger position with Putin then perhaps he wouldn’t have started a war. If Trump would have taken the virus seriously in the beginning then perhaps America wouldn’t have loss over 1,000,000 citizens and paid a costly sum for keeping the economy a float.
Yes, elections have consequences and when you put a wacko in there expect the little guy to get hammered. Are you enjoying the increases?
Also, if you are a union member, then group together and strike. That’s what your forefathers did to get an honest salary with benefits paid in full by the employer. The road back begins with you and your ability to see the forest from the trees.
You must be in a forest with many trees.
DeleteYour a nut
Delete"It’s Trumps administration that is the cause of all this inflation. If Trump would have taking a stronger position with Putin then perhaps he wouldn’t have started a war."
ReplyDeleteClown College is in session. Let's review, Bozo wannabe: two presidents in our lifetimes have not started war. 1) Jimmy Carter, 2) Donald Trump. You're blaming Trump's failure to start a war on Biden's destruction of the economy via unbridled and unprecedented money printing and spending? You're just a dog-faced pony soldier who never beat up Corn Pop. You're as senile as your hero Uncle Touchy Biden. And no, this isn't McClure's fault either. Although I'm certain he voted for Uncle Touchy. He shares 1/81,000,000th of the blame.
Well said
DeleteHe is handing some sweet upgrades and steps to his people. Are you not allowed to write that? You only have permission to go after council people. You are no friend of the employees just a mouthpiece for Maclure. Enough with the pension and benefits, that won't pay the rent or car payment. Low end pay is a joke. McClure and his union boss golfing pal are crushing us.
ReplyDelete5:41, Your assertion is pretty much a bald-faced lie. First, McClure is proposing no step increases for any of his exempt people, i.e. political appointments. They will get the same 3% that career service is getting. He is proposing a step increase for the Deputy Director of Admin, who is paid only $53,600 for the rather significant amount of work she does. That is for the position, not the person. If she leaves, it would be difficult to find someone who could fill her role at that salary. Hence the increase. Only one.
ReplyDeleteVery true Bernie the compensation for that position is a crime
DeleteThe letters she used to write to the LVL editor should have gotten her charged with a crime.
DeleteIf there's one thing this guy has it's the audacity!! Vetoes a pay study then he proposes a pithy 3%...in this economy?! As others have said, inflation is at over 8% so this actually a significant pay cut in the real spending dollars for these employees.
ReplyDeleteWho, by the way, are also taxpayers and/or contributors to the local economy. How many employees qualify for SNAP? How many receive title xx or other need-based assistance? If the majority of personnel costs are reimbursed by state and federal dollars, it would seem to make sense to pay your employees a fair, decent living wage to keep them off the welfare rolls and to give them a little something to spend and stimulate the local economy. But I guess McClure would rather cut of his nose to spite his face...or whatever.
This budget is short-sighted and narrow-minded. Not to mention unnecessarily cruel. Council must intervene.
Hey, county employees wake up. McClure is not your enemy. Ur financial pain is due to you guys believing the stuff the democrats keep selling you. They are the party 'friendly" to the worker. How is your grocery bill lately? And wait till you see your heating bill this winter. You're going to pray for global warming as the democrats disable gas and oil for this pie in the sky solar and wind. Let's not talk about the potentially unstable electric power grid. You will be glad to go to work. Maybe you can be warm there. Maybe you can live there as the school taxes coming down the pike will be insane.
ReplyDeleteFear-mongering if a tactic. But jokes on you, I'm a millennial and so will never own a home so school taxes funny affect me haha
DeleteSimple solution to issue
ReplyDeleteMass call off by employees for 3 days and shut the courthouse down
Prove to McClure how valuable you are
Actions are more powerful than words
See how many practice what they preach
The way Koury is running the court house and making people do the job of 4 is ridiculous. while administration is telling them to disband the union because they're the reason they're not getting compensated appropriately.
DeleteThe employees most certainly should organize amongst themselves because the Union is ineffectual.
A sick in or call out might help light a fire.
County employees should - respectfully - shut their stupid pie holes. What are you going to do? Vote Republican? Hahahahaha. You're sheep in a pen and Lamont knows you well. You have no choices. The guy won re-election easily and he'd win again today and every day for the rest of your whiny lives. He's your guy. You have no other.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes the 3 County Council office people MORE special than the rest of the employees. The Clerk to Council has been ridiculously OVERPAID for years. COUNCIL is AS BAD AS MCCLUELESS!
ReplyDeleteBernie, what you forget to mention is that while most career service members will receive the %3 others will receive step raises? Once again the select few are granted special treatment while those who work hard and deserve a step increased are ignored. Picking and choosing who gets step raises destroys work morale.
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteI would correct your statement on the Deputy Dir. Admin. that person is not getting a step increase. that person is getting several increases. CS24 to CS31, according to the proposal. Also, your comment is like a slap in the face to some that are doing well beyond their job duty and not getting compensated for it. Significant amount of work for what she does. Everyone is replaceable
To bad Steve Lynch mob didn’t win ,he would have solved all the county problems by now . Seems like we have a lot of experts in county politics? Run for office or sit back and complain on a blog.
ReplyDeleteHow dare the three ladies that run th entire legislative branch of government get a step. It is time to give McClure's private photographer a massive raise. Also, create a new friend position for Barron. It is OK since Barron and McClure told O'Hare it is OK. Also, thanks to th McClure people spending time on posting to the blog.
ReplyDeleteEveryone on here is commenting on the economy, are people being under paid? Probably however Mclure didn’t create the economic problem, first I didn’t vote for President Trump, but before democratic control this country was energy self sufficient, fuel prices and the economy was booming. My 401K was doing great I was planning on retirement within a year. Since then I lost so much money I can’t retire. Gas was under $3.00 a gallon, food was cheap. The democrats stopped drilling for oil and gas. Going green pushing for electric cars, 78% of electricity is produced with fossil fuels. I only hope Trump runs again, this time I WILL vote for him, do I agree with some of the things he did ? Absolutely not however our economy was much better under him. Open your eyes and wake up the democrats are ruining this country and your future. I was a democrat from the beginning, but no more….
ReplyDeleteNo increases to LVPC please.
ReplyDeleteThe staff turnover is stupendous.
Everyone talks shit, but few act
ReplyDeleteShut the Courthouse down during criminal week
Employees have generous sick time without needing a doctor excuse
Organize a mass call off without any orchestrator
Do this every month
Problem is there are too many kiss asses who run there mouth but are afraid to act
October 5, 2022 at 6:14 PM said "but before democratic control this country was energy self sufficient.." No party is to blame for the country's reliance on others. This has been a problem for centuries. The Oil companys and OPEC have controlled the worlds supply for ages and yet they never get blamed. They state they must cut production in order to stabilize the market. We all know why they are doing this....its to make profits. So, don't start pointing fingers at a particular party. Its time that this country stops relying on others and become self reliant. Trump was no better or worse than Biden when it comes to energy self efficiency. Thats the problem these days is that everyone is pointing fingers at others.
ReplyDelete