David Dussinger, a Republican, is seeking one of three open seats for Williamsport City Council in the Nov. 4 general election.

Each of the candidates running received similar questions from the Sun-Gazette.

Q. What do you see as ways to increase revenue and lower expenses as the city faces a projected deficit to be at least $3 million or higher in 2026?

“Regarding the city’s $3-million-plus deficit, I would propose we switch our property tax from its current state to a Land Value Tax (LVT),” Dussinger said.

“This is something that Eric Beiter, current council member, has discussed with me and I am very supportive of it,” he said.

“This is something that has been done in other Pennsylvania cities with great success,” he added.

“The main objective of a Land Value Tax is to financially motivate property owners to develop open lots in the city while not financially penalizing homeowners to complete improvements on their homes,” Dussinger said.

“All at the same time the LVT would increase the number of homes in the city increasing the revenue for the city, without increasing taxes for the residents of Williamsport. The Land Value Tax has also been shown in other cities to help correct blight by addressing it similarly to open lots.”

In addition to the implementation of the Land Value Tax, “we need to complete a review of all the services in the city, determine which ones are must-haves, like fire and police, and which ones are nice-to-haves and determine if spending could be cut,” Dussinger said.

Q. What way can the city improve its code enforcement and ensure money invested for residential, commercial, and industrial blight mitigation happens?

“Regarding ways to improve codes enforcement I would be aligned with some of the current city’s departments taking on additional responsibilities to help educate, review, and enforce the city’s codes,” Dussinger said.

“If elected, one of the first departments I would evaluate to assist with this would be the fire department. Fire departments already are familiar with code/code enforcement when it comes to fire safety,” he concluded.