SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The City of Scranton is introducing its 2025 capital budget Tuesday at the city council meeting.
Scranton City Council President Gerald Smurl says it's one of the best budgets the city has seen in years.
"When we have something like this a capital budget that by the end of this month should have over $5,000,000 sitting there to pay for these projects, I don't know if in my lifetime if I remember that happening in Scranton," said Smurl.
The 2025 capital budget is being hailed as one of the most organized and transparent budgets the city has seen in years.
"This capital budget we've received now it in detail tells us what department it's for, what the items are, how we are going to finance this, where we're getting the money from, and how long we're going to finance it for," Smurl explained.
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Parts of the budget include the big-money items that help keep the Scranton community safe.
"We have to invest in our police department, we've seen that in this past year of different reasons why, crime, youth crime, youth violence, we need to provide our police department with the right equipment if we expect them to be able to do their job right," Smurl continued.
Budgeting funds and matching grants to keep investing in the city's parks.
"We have Connel Park, a pool going in there, Nay Aug of course, that entire complex, the handicap playground that's going up into Nay Aug that is also in there, the pickleball courts, the basketball courts, that's all included, Weston Field, Weston Park, Capouse Avenue, there are many many projects and they're all funded. We need to have parks for our kids, we have to provide something we can't just exist," Smurl added.
The budget reflects the significant strides Scranton has made in financial management.
"We are certainly more financially stable than we've been in over 30 years when our credit ratings go up multiple times. They've made a deal with the bank with the taxpayers' money and as of right now we've made over 600,000 in interest alone in that so we're on the right track," Smurl stated.
The capital budget will be voted on in Tuesday's council meeting. It's unclear if taxes will be raised for residents in Scranton, but Smurl says he has a good feeling the tax anticipation notes will not be brought out.
