County: $4.3M of land can be sold
Luzerne County officials say they’re well aware that $4.3 million in county-owned land must be sold to stay within budget.
The dollar amount is realistic and attainable, but the challenge will be making it happen before the end of the year, county Chief Clerk/Manager Sam Guesto said Monday.
They're also counting on $3 million from "beefed-up tax collection," how's that going? This year's budget was full of holes that counted on $7 million of questionable revenues and included pushing off bond obligations to get a break this year. With $309 million in debt and the need to borrow another $100 million to build a new jail our commissioners are not going to be able to pull that rabbit out of the hat again.
I've been involved in a few real estate transactions and know that it takes time to work out the details and finally close the deal. With a government agency involved it has to be even more complicated and time consuming. And if they can't sell the land the land by the end of the year I'm sure they will float yet another bond to meet payroll just like every other year. If they do find a buyer look for the new owner getting a ten year property tax break because the property will be developed and provide "good jobs."
Hey Gort could you tell me how many folks are employed by Luzerne county and if we have been able to keep the gains from Valley Crest or have they just used that to hire more
ReplyDeleteAny idea whether this will mean more tract housing at the cost of few farmlands and more over-crowded schools? When I was growing up in the Back Mountain, Lehman and Dallas were empty, now I hear there aren't enough seats in the classroom.
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