A Democratic candidate for Congress once boasted about her record of supporting “no new taxes” as mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, even as city taxes have steadily climbed during her tenure.
Ready to move on from city politics, Mayor Paige Cognetti is running to unseat Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), who represents Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District. Cognetti’s record on taxation is drawing criticism from her opponents, who note that property taxes have jumped multiple times during her time in office, despite complaints from residents.
Cognetti was first elected as mayor of Scranton during a special election in November 2019 and took office on January 6, 2020. By January 28, the city adopted a 2.47% property tax increase. According to the Times-Tribune, that increase, which was first proposed by the previous mayor, was also authorized by the Cognetti administration.
A year-and-a-half later when running for her first full term in office in May 2021, Cognetti released a campaign ad which claims she “fought new taxes” and guided the city to a “budget surplus with no new taxes.”
After winning re-election, property taxes increased under Cognetti in both 2023 and 2024. Both those hikes were about 2%, but could have been higher if Cognetti had her way. Her administration wanted taxes to increase by 3.5% in 2024, the Times-Tribune reported.
Cognetti recently discussed these hikes on local radio, saying that they were increases that residents could handle.
“Over five years, we’ve increased taxes twice, about 2% each time. Those are responsible increases and there’s things that people can manage,” she said on the “Morning News with Nancy and Jason.” “We don’t play politics with people’s finances. We don’t pretend for years that we don’t need to raise our taxes and then let somebody else do it years later.”
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At the time the 2024 hike was being considered, some residents of Scranton voiced concerns about not being able to handle the increase.
“Look at it for senior citizens. I’m like 72 years old. Where am I going to get the money from on a fixed income? This is not good,” Gerry Dombroski told a local ABC affiliate.
Prior to taking office, Cognetti said that she would fight to lower the city’s income tax, which is 2.4%. She called that rate “unbelievable,” comparing it to New York City where “at least you get a subway.” That tax has not budged during her over five and a half years in office.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Reilly Richardson said that Cognetti’s record on taxation shows that she is a “political opportunist.”
“Political opportunist Paige Cognetti raised taxes on hardworking Scranton families then lied about it,” he told The Daily Wire. “Cognetti is too dishonest and too expensive to be mayor, much less a Member of Congress.”
The critical northeastern Pennsylvania race could come down to the wire. Bresnahan only won his last election by about 6,000 votes out of 385,000 cast.
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