Complaint alleges Southwest Greensburg improperly pushed for elimination of library tax

A complaint was lodged this week with the Westmoreland County Board of Elections asking it to investigate a claim that Southwest Greensburg improperly lobbied borough voters to support a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot.

If the referendum is approved, it would eliminate a 1-mill annual library tax.

The complaint was spurred by a recent post on the borough’s Facebook page: “Southwest Greensburg Borough urges voters to vote YES on the referendum below that will be on the November 8th ballot.”

Borough council in July unanimously authorized the referendum that, if approved, will eliminate a tax assessed to residents to fund the Greensburg-Hempfield Area Library. The tax, officials estimated, generates more than $15,000 annually from Southwest Greensburg residents.

Southwest Borough resident Rege Garris, who serves as a member of the borough’s zoning board, questioned the propriety of the borough’s lobbying in favor of the referendum.

“As a body politic, they shouldn’t be taking a position once they took action to place it on the ballot. Once they put it before the people, they shouldn’t be putting their thumb on the scale,” Garris said.

Garris, who is a supporter of retaining the tax, said he is not alleging any criminal behavior but wants the county to explore the propriety of the borough’s actions.

Westmoreland County Election Bureau director Greg McCloskey said all election-related complaints are investigated but declined to discuss specifics of the allegations raised against Southwest Greensburg.

“We receive a handful of complaints each year,” McCloskey said.

It was unclear if any remedies are available should the county determine there is merit to Garris’ claim.

Westmoreland County Solicitor Melissa Guiddy said complaints are investigated to determine any potential violations of state election law.

“If it raises a potential violation of the election code it is evaluated to see if it can be handled internally or if it needs referred to an outside agency for further investigation,” Guiddy wrote in an email.

Borough voters initially approved the library tax by referendum in 2017, as did Greensburg city voters. Voters in Hempfield, South Greensburg, New Stanton and Youngwood rejected the proposed levy.

Gary Falatovich, solicitor for Southwest Greensburg, said the borough’s social media post was not an attempt to lobby voters but instead was designed to inform residents about the referendum and the potential impact of voting in favor of elimination of the library tax.

“Council has not hidden why they were going to put that referendum on the ballot,” Falatovich said.

The lengthy post included a description of the referendum and suggested the money generated by the library tax could be used for other projects such as the replacement of an aging borough public works garage and noted the library now appears to be on solid financial ground.

“Southwest Greensburg Borough is a small municipality and believes all six municipalities should pay their fair share outside of tax millage to support the library,” according to the borough’s post.

Falatovich said there is no definitive prohibition against any specific information municipal governments can post on social media, but conceded the legal issue is one that has not been fully vetted by state courts.

Still, Falatovich described the post as nothing more than an explanation for the public to understand the ramifications of the referendum.

“I don’t take it as an advocacy,” Falatovich said.