Luzerne County Council spent substantial time on the proposed 2026 budget during the work session, grouping several budget amendments into combined votes and debating personnel, vacancy assumptions and pension contributions.

Finance staff explained the vacancy-factor rationale — a practical adjustment reflecting hiring timing and turnover — and proposed several numeric changes; council members proposed amendments to lower vacancy-factor increases and to change a proposed reduction in general-fund pension contributions. After on-floor amendments and roll-call votes, council approved a revised vacancy-factor and a $300,000 reduction to the general-fund pension contribution as part of the amended package.

A sustained exchange centered on compensation decisions. Members debated a proposed salary increase for the elections director. An on-floor amendment to raise the directors pay to $70,000 (roughly an 8.5% increase) was proposed, discussed and then failed in a roll-call vote; the council ultimately approved the managers proposed 2.5% merit increase as the adopted action on that line. Members on both sides emphasized retention and the need to address rank-and-file wages — especially sheriffs deputies — while acknowledging constrained overall budgets and taxpayer sensitivity.

Council also debated a set of budget amendments that touched pensions, court administration positions and division-level adjustments. Corrections, a major general-fund component, drew questions about overtime assumptions and inmate medical transports; the corrections director warned that medical transports and off-site care are significant drivers of overtime and operating costs.

After multiple roll calls, council moved the budget package forward with amended numbers and directed staff to bring final line-item adjustments on budget night as needed.