Three companies have submitted proposals to oversee Luzerne County’s employee pension fund, according to county Pension Coordinator Rick Hummer.
The county Retirement Board had voted in January to seek requests for qualifications from entities interested in serving as advisor because the current contract with Morgan Stanley expires the end of this year.
Responses were due March 1.
Hummer said the following companies submitted proposals before the deadline: Morgan Stanley, PNC Institutional Management and Conrad Siegel. The submissions and costs are under review, he said.
Morgan Stanley has been overseeing the fund since October 2008. The board publicly sought proposals from other companies in 2011 and 2015 and chose to keep Morgan Stanley both times.
The fund reached a record high value of $311 million at the end of 2021, with net investment earnings of $31 million for the year, which equates to 11%, Morgan Stanley representative Richard Hazzouri has reported to the board.
Tax collection
Most 2022 county/municipal real estate tax bills have been mailed, the county’s budget/finance division announced.
Tax bills for Jeddo borough and Foster and Dennison townships will be issued Monday due to an issue with bonding that has since been resolved.
The only bills yet to be mailed are in Duryea. Bills were delayed there due to a vacancy in the tax collector post that must be filled by the borough. Borough council is scheduled to vote on the selection of a tax collector on Tuesday.
All property owners will have two months after the issuance date in their municipality to pay the taxes at a 2% rebate and another two months to pay at the full, or face, amount, before a penalty is added.
For example, most bills have an issue date of Feb. 28 with a rebate that ends April 27 and a face period that ends June 27. After that date, a 10% penalty is added for taxes paid through Dec. 31.
Property owners also are reminded to contact their tax collector if they did not receive their bill. Property owners with address changes must appear in person at the assessor’s office in the courthouse annex or complete and notarize an authorization form on the assessor’s page at luzernecounty.org.
Information technology
County 911 GIS Manager David Skoronski has been named interim county IT director, Acting County Manager Romilda Crocamo told council.
The position has been vacant since Mauro DiMauro resigned Dec. 16.
Councilman Stephen J. Urban brought up Skoronski’s interim appointment during a council committee meeting last week, saying Skoronski is a wise choice.
Urban said Skoronski built the county’s GIS/mapping system and is “very talented.”
“He has that aptitude and knowledge,” Urban said.
Study commission
Responding to feedback on social media, Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said he wants to emphasize council’s decision to reject a home rule study commission ballot question had nothing to do with a fear that council seats would be eliminated.
Instead, Lombardo said he and others were hesitant because a study commission would be free to recommend elimination of the charter and a return to the prior three-commissioner government system. The commission also could propose keeping home rule but altering the charter “so drastically that it could cause more problems for year to come,” he said.
“The make-up of the charter has seriously improved the county’s financial position,” Lombardo said. “We don’t want to alter the government in a potentially harmful and detrimental way.”
Lombardo said he is wants to continue conversations about ways to incrementally improve the existing charter, which took effect a decade ago.
If the ballot question had been placed on the ballot, voters would elect the independent study commission members.