Greenridge Area - Scranton or Dunmore???

[Mr Yuk]

I think the way to lower the wage tax is simple....stop the useless spending on Nay Aug, dog parks, empty downtown buildings, useless bureaucracy in city hall, etc. Let the free market dictate what should and should not be built downtown.

I would be against a city sales tax, since I think it would even further hurt city businesses. This isn't a big city like New York, people can easily drive to the next town in a few minutes to do their shopping. More people would do their grocery shopping in Dickson City or Dunmore. Its not like it would actually cost 50 cents in gas....from West Side I drive a few blocks, hop on the expressway, and I'm in Dickson City in 2 minutes. Just like the city smoking ban just drove people to bars right outside the city, people who now do their grocery shopping at Giant, Brunetti's, Redner's, etc, would start driving to the next town to shop.

One additional tax I would support would be a commuter wage tax. Other cities charge a commuter tax, why not us?

[NEPAfriend]

Property taxes in Dunmore are not higher when you look at what people really end up paying. I just took a look on the MLS and the property taxes for homes in Scranton does come out to be more. I compared 2 homes in Dunmore that are right around $250,000 to 3 homes in Scranton that are at the same price. The average tax for Dunmore came to $2,800 while in Scranton it was $4,100.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by NEPAfriend

Property taxes in Dunmore are not higher when you look at what people really end up paying. I just took a look on the MLS and the property taxes for homes in Scranton does come out to be more. I compared 2 homes in Dunmore that are right around $250,000 to 3 homes in Scranton that are at the same price. The average tax for Dunmore came to $2,800 while in Scranton it was $4,100.

But this year starts the property tax reductions from the casino money, and Scranton property owners get a much bigger reduction than the surrounding towns. I read where Scranton residents are getting an average of around $300 off of their property tax bills, and most surrounding towns are getting less than $100 back. My property taxes are now less than $1,000/year. I honestly do not believe that many Scranton homes have property taxes of $4,100.....the only ones that high would be some of the higher-end houses in the city. I would think the vast majority in Scranton pay much less than $2,000/year on property taxes.

[Mr Yuk]

Also, Dunmore borough had had to go to court to petition to raise their property tax rates above the limit allowed by state law.

[notkaplan]

Don't trust the tax figures on the MLS, they are ballpark figures at best, and usually a few years out of date. A commuter tax is not a good idea, and the wage tax is ridiculous and one of the reasons I moved out of the city. I agreewith scranbarre that there should be a city sales tax in lieu of the 3.4% wage tax. In fact, I think there should be a national sales tax to replace the income tax. Income (wage) taxes punish responsible behavior (working hard); as do property taxes.

And as to the original question of this thread: Green Ridge and Hollywood are 2 adjacent neighborhoods, Green Ridge on the Scranton side of the border and Hollywood on the Dunmore side. And interestingly, you can call the Hollywood section of Dunmore "Green Ridge" but never call the Scranton side "Hollywood"

[Spruce Streeter]

The Hollywood section is in Dunmore--built on an old swamp. West of Hollywood is the Dunmore Suburban area. West of that is the Green ridge suburban area. Gren Ridge proper is Wyoming Avenue and west.

[MT8]

What beautiful homes! I love that area.