Hazleton Area hikes Schuylkill taxes, buys WYLN building
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - The WYLN-TV 35 building in Hazle Township. The Hazleton Area School District announced it has purchased the building for $3 Million.
HAZLETON, Luzerne County – Taxes are going up for property owners in Nuremberg, Sheppton, Brandonville, and the surrounding areas and Hazleton Area has a new building, the school board said at Thursday’s meeting.
The Hazleton Area School Board approved its 2021-2022 budget Thursday including a tax increase for all three counties, with the highest increase coming to Schuylkill County, from 33.937 mills to 37.087 mills.
For a home valued at $100,000, that is a $151 increase.
North Union, East Union, and Kline Townships, along with McAdoo Borough, are part of the Hazleton Area School District and will see the increase.
Luzerne County — the district’s primary county — has the lowest tax rate and sees the lowest tax increase, from 11.4470 mills to 11.8370 mills. The district’s communities in Carbon County will see a rise from 27.606 mills to 29.067 mills.
Taxpayers, with a property assessed at $100,000, will pay $67 more in Carbon, and $33 more in Luzerne.
The district’s budget has projected expenses of $187.73 Million with revenues expected at $184.27 Million, a $3.46 Million deficit.
With the tax increases, Hazleton Area’s tax rate will stand at the third lowest in Schuylkill County, according to the tax rates listed on Schuylkill County’s website. The only tax rates lower are Tri-Valley and Williams Valley at 36.8970 and 36.2400 respectively.
The average tax rate in Schuylkill County is 44.17 mills.
In other business, the district announced that they had purchased a television station’s building in Hazle Township, just beyond the city’s northeast line.
The district purchased the WYLN-TV 35 building at 1057 East Tenth Street for $3 Million.
Superintendent Brian Uplinger told the board, attendees at the meeting at the Hazleton Area Career Center, and viewers on Facebook Live that the building would house various programs.
“We are able to move our Pre-K and [Early Intervention] program to that facility once some renovations have been completed in the building,” Uplinger said. “We’re also going to move our warehouse up to that location eventually.”
“What that does is free up some space here in the career center to possibly add more programs, more classroom space,” Uplinger said.
He added that Vital House, a Life Skills program with a kitchen and living space, will also be housed at the WYLN building.
WYLN said that the purchase does not impact the station.
“We will continue our operations and provide local programming, news and live sporting events,” the station wrote on its Facebook page. “We are proud to serve our community.”
About Author
