Lackawanna Co. financial issues discussed at meeting

Lackawanna County officials on Wednesday said they could enter 2025 with a structural deficit as high as $25 million. County Commissioner Bill Gaughan's statement about the county's long-term budget deficit came during a public meeting at the Throop Municipal Building on Sanderson Street. The 2025 budget, which has not been unveiled yet, has to be passed by the end of November. Lackawanna County expects a cash shortfall at the end of this year between roughly $8 and 11 million. The $25 million deficit is driven in large part by the county's surging expenses — particularly in health care costs and the costs to run the jail — and its relatively anemic revenue.