Citizens' Voice from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania • 5

Gions'ii calls for creation of panol to oversee reassessment Xi -i 1f ji If, ill If ft 1 liiapidated buildings plague Newport Twp. Several properties on Coal Street in Newport Township have remained in dilapidated condition for many years and have raised the ire of neighbors. These properties have broken windows and are in poor structural condition. This property at 90 Coal St. is covered with weeds.

New port Township manager John Elmy said township officials would like to demolish these properties. The problem is that these properties are owned by out-of-state estates and township officials have been unable to pursue eminent domain, he said. to present combined; newscasts minority Commissioner Steve Urban has consistently favored the idea. Makowski was opposed to the project but changed his mind after a long period of reflection. Pizano has admitted that there is great inequity in property taxation throughout the county.

However, he said the impact of reassessment on senior citizens would be severe. Moreover, Pizano said earlier he believes the cost of reassessment is a major factor in his decision to oppose the issue. He said estimates range from $6 to $9 million, not counting the maintenance costs required to keep the system current Luzerne County has not been reassessed since 1965, making it among the last of Pennsylvania's 67 counties to address that issue in recent years. Pizano also noted that consultants have told him that even if the county is reassessed, those figures will be 7 percent out of balance by the time the new numbers are actually implemented. He said he favors tax reform, but is hopeful that the state will address that issue when a new governor is elected in November.

He noted that both gubernatorial candidates, including Democrat Ed Rendell and Republican -Mike Fisher, have said they favor tax reform. Replacing the property tax with a sales or income tax is more acceptable than property reassessment he said. Commissioner Steve Urban said earlier the current property tax system is out of balance by 40.78 percent, meaning that about 41 percent of county taxpayers are paying too much while 41 percent are paying too little. "It's all about tax fairness-getting everyone to pay their fair share," Urban stated. He disagreed with Pizano's concern about the cost of maintaining the system, saying that task can easily be handled electronically Makowski stunned Pizano and many others a few weeks ago when he called a press conference to announce his change of heart "a.V- Saying it was "one of the most difficult decisions he has made in seven years as a county commissioners," Makowski said he decided to support the project because "it's the right thing to do." Makowski said the gross unfairness of the current system is discouraging young people from building new homes and is impairing the ability of the county to move forward economically By Fred Key Citizens' Voice Staff Luzerne County Commissioner Tom Makowski wants to move countywide property reassessment forward and he also wants to appoint a steering mittee to lead and oversee the process.

Makowski penned a formal letter to commissioner Chairman Tom Pizano asking him to place the reassessment issue on the county's meeting agenda "as soon as you deem appropriate." Makowski said in order to keep the process moving forward, he asked Tony Alu, operations director of the hoard of assessment appeals, to contact consultants with reassessment expertise to discuss their services. "I would like to hold a public meeting with these consultants in the near future and I will discuss a time frame for this meeting very shortly," he said. The commissioner said that he also wants to appoint a "steering committee" to prepare for the reassessment and to "monitor the undertaking throughout the process." Makowski told Pizano that he recommends the following appointments to the committee: Attorney James Senape Maureen Rudn icki and William Joyce, all of the county Board of Assessment Appeals; county chief Clerk James Torbik, county Solicitor James Blaum; Rus -Arnone, director of personnel and budget; Anthony Alu, director of operations of the board of assessment appeals; Mary Virginia Augello, director of the tax claim bureau; Steve Englot, county director of data processing; James Brozena, county engineer, Al Tossi, county mapping supervisor, Bill Keisinger, evahiator for the board of assessment appeals. Also, a representative from the following groups: Wilkes-Barre City, Hazleton City, Nanticoke City, Pittston City Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18, Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Pittston chambers of commerce, Wyoming Valley Board of Realtors; Hazleton Board of Realtors and Bert Goodman, an attorney who is expert in the field of tax assessment Makowski said the board could have additional members as well He told Pizano he would like to see the steering committee appointed "as soon as possible." He said he hopes to travel with the committee to "several counties that have completed or are involved in reassessment to gain their valuable input" Pizano is known to oppose reassessment while Republican 3 rn CO WBRE, WYOU By fieri Anna Kaikowski Citizens' Voice Staff Writer The shared services agreement between WBRE and WYOU, which began in 1997, has apparently come full circle: The stations are combining efforts for a morning and noon newscast that will be seen on both stations. The newscasts will begin Monday, Sept.

23. But Al Zobel, news director of both stations, stresses that this move is not a precursor to the demise of WYOU. Nor, is it a cost-cutting effort to reduce staff from newscasts that have long been underperformerato WNEP in the Nielsen ratings. "WYOU news is not going away" he said. "If we wanted it to go away we would have done it a lot sooner.

We will have more reporters on the street for WYOU now." "Pennsylvania and "Pennsylvania Midday" will be a combined effort of 28 News and News 22, according to ZobeL He said that budgetary concerns were not a motive in this move. All other newscasts at both WBRE and WYOU will remain separate entities, according to ZobeL The news director said he did not think vie wers would be confused by such a move. He effective Monday, Sept 30. The 5:30 p.m. show will join its existing 5 and 6 p.m.

newscasts, providing 90 minutes of local news. Charlotte Deleste will co-anchor the 5:30 p.m. show along with a yet-to-be announced co-anchor A reporter will also be added. It is also possible that another reporter will be added along with editors and producers. WYOU's 5:30 p.m.

newscast is moving to head-to-head competition against sister station WBRE and WNEP on Monday, Sept 30. It will continue to be anchored by Frank Andrews and Penny Lindgren with weather from meteorologist Scott Stuccio. The move was precipitated by the acknowledgment of Zobel that by 5:30, "WYOU was a half hour late getting into the game." WYOU morning co-anchor Phil Yacuboski will do reporting for the 11 p.m. newscasts. Nexstar Broadcasting, which had previously owned WYOU, purchased WBRE from Northeastern Television Investors in April 1997.

WYOU was sold to Bastet Broadcasting. The owners then entered into a shared services agreement with WBRE being the provider of news for WYOU Most major departments of WYOU are located in WBRE's offices in Wilkes-Barre. called the combined newscasts "an innovative concept" "The morning time periods have different dynamics in play," Zobel said. "We decided to combine the resources of two stations because it was time to put out a new product It makes a lot of sense." "Pennsylvania Morning" will air weekdays from 5:30 to 7 a.m. "Pennsyl- MAKES A LOT vania Midday" will air week-OF SENSE, days from noon to 12:30 p.m.

Both news- Al Zobel News director casts will be anchored by MarkHiller, WBRE morning and noon anchor; and Stacey Weaver, WYOU morning and noon anchor, with weather by WBRE's Vince Sweeney. Zobel said the morning news show will be fast-paced for the 1 viewer who is just waking up and not able to sit through the whole duration of a newscast It will feature news on the "ones" of each hour and weather on the "twos." "In this way, a viewer can get all the news he needs in 10 minutes," explained ZobeL WBRE is also adding another newscast to the afternoon lineup, CO do 73 73 5 CO 3 73 to fO en.