December 9th, 4:45 PM, and December 13th, 6:30 PM, held at the Lebanon Municipal Building, Room 210.
Mayor Capello announces $1 Million in grant funding opportunities for nonprofits in addition to granting options for First Time Homebuyers and Owner Occupied Homeowner Rehabilitation grants within Lebanon City. (Links below)
This month’s official City Council agenda was small, with only two things to be voted on. However, several “communications” items, where the Mayor or private citizens spoke, were included in the meetings.
The first official item on the agenda was a “communication” by Mayor Capello to inform the Council that she was re-appointing Robin Getz and Helen Westphal as delegate/alternate delegate to the “Lebanon Count Tax Collection Committee” for one-year terms.
The second item was a “resolution” (which is an agreement, not a law) to pass an agreement between the City of Lebanon and the “American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees” for the years 2022-2024, which is essentially a union contract. The City of Lebanon has three separate union agreement contracts that they must negotiate. This agreement was for those who work in Public Works, Public Safety, etc. Although the resolution appeared to be standard, there were two notable changes – wages will go up each year by 3%, and the cost for health insurance deductibles will increase. According to Mayor Capello, “as an incentive for our employees to not take the City’s health care coverage.”
The City Council also voted on Bill No.15, which sets the property tax levy of the City of Lebanon, PA, at 4.581. The tax levy means that a homeowner in the City will pay approximately $4.58 per $1,000 of their property’s value (if your home is worth $100,000, then you would pay $458 per year). Lebanon City has not raised property taxes at all in 7 years.
There were multiple communications between the two meetings after the official agenda items were complete. On Thursday, Rafael Torres, founder of WEPA (Working to Empower People for Advancement), introduced the organization to the City Council and presented WEPA’s vision for the community. To learn more about WEPA, visit http://wepaempowermentcenter.org
After Mr. Torres completed his presentation, Mayor Capello made a public comment to address a concern from the November City Council meeting regarding the “First Time Homebuyer” and “Owner Occupied Homeowner Rehabilitation” programs. Some issues with the functionality of the weblinks and access to vital information concerning these programs had been brought to the Mayor’s attention. Mayor Capello assured the Council the weblinks to PDF documents on these programs were now working. In addition, The Mayor had information on income limits, etc., available at the meeting as well. For more information on these programs and eligibility, visit http://www.lebanonpa.org/DepartmentOfAdministration/Pages/CommunityDevelopment.aspx
Lastly, at the end of the regular City Council Meeting, the Mayor made additional comments regarding the funding of Lebanon City from the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Lebanon City received $16.6 million in federal aid from the ARP, broken up into two sums received in May 2021 and 2022. To put this into perspective, the entire budget for the City of Lebanon for 2022 is less than $16 million, so the additional influx of $16.6 million, beyond regular revenue, will make a massive difference for our City. Lebanon must use this money in specific ways outlined by the Federal Government. First, a percentage of the funds will financially stabilize the City of Lebanon from the economic effects of the Pandemic, including storm drain development and streetscaping projects.
Through these funds, Mayor Capello also announced that the City of Lebanon is offering $1 million in grant opportunities for local nonprofit organizations located within the municipal limits. The Mayor will develop a commission to process applications. For more information on the application process and fact sheet, visit http://www.lebanonpa.org/Pages/Default.aspx
Author: Alisher Aminov
