SUNBURY - Northumberland County commissioners agreed Tuesday to reduce traveling expenses for seminars and conferences attended by county employees.
Commissioner Vinny Clausi, who made the motion to reduce the expenses, said the county paid $221,000 in travel expenses in 2010. "We have to put a stop to this," Clausi lamented.
Fellow Commissioners Frank Sawicki and Merle Phillips agreed to reduce travel expenses as much as possible among all employees, including row officers and the commissioners. The commissioners agreed to limit the amount of people attending each conference or seminar, while noting attendance at some of the events is mandatory.
The commissioners also established a new one-year lease agreement with the Northumberland County Authority that requires the county to pay approximately $4,800 per month for the parking area and building along Trevorton Road that houses the transportation, weatherization and liquid fuels departments.
The board agreed to discontinue its current contract with the state Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP) because it has proven cost prohibitive. The service, which cost the county $480,000 in 2010, involves the county providing transportation services to people of various ages who cannot afford to pay their own transportation for medical appointments.
Clausi said, "We can't afford this any more. It's too costly."
The commissioners said their decision to discontinue the contract with MATP will not affect transportation services for senior citizens throughout the county or the mental health/mental retardation, Children and Youth Services and Area Agency on Aging programs.
The commissioners authorized the repayment of taxes plus interest to Mount Carmel Housing Inc. in the amount of $37,731.24 due to a recent court decision. "This is only the county's portion of the repayment and involves an assessment appeal filed in 2005 that claimed the taxes were assessed too high," Sawicki said.
Salary board members, who met before the commissioners, voted 3-1 to extend the hours of temporary, part-time senior accountant Denise Fanella by 750 hours and increase her pay rate from $35 per hour to $36.05 per hour (3 percent raise), effective Tuesday. Fanella is scheduled to work 25 hours per week until the end of the year while helping train other employees in the controller's office.
Voting in favor of the motion were Acting Controller Tony Phillips, Sawicki and Merle Phillips. Clausi voted "no."