SCRANTON — In an annual State of the City address Wednesday, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti recalled her first action as mayor in January 2020 was declaring an emergency for the city to hire an outside law firm to fight a tax lawsuit that threatened to tank the city.
That case challenged city tax revenue collected under state Act 511 and, if lost, would cost the city $50 million. Other lawsuits pending against the city raised the total potential liabilities to $184 million. All of those suits have since been won or settled, such that the liability ended up far lower, at $4 million, she said.
“We were getting to a place where bankruptcy was a word that came up. It was a word that was on the table,” Cognetti told an audience of over 100 people at the Kane Forum in Leahy Hall at the University of Scranton. “We could have been sunk … we were on fire in crisis on day 1” of her tenure.
The mayor credited prior officials for taking financial recovery steps that Cognetti and her team built upon and that resulted in the city under her leadership a few years ago finally shedding the 30-year-old, black-mark label of financially distressed under state Act 47.
She also credited her team in City Hall with making various budgeting, procurement and debt-reduction moves that have resulted in the city getting three bond upgrades from the Standard & Poor’s credit-rating agency. Those upgrades, which were akin to increasingly good report cards on the city’s fiscal health and creditworthiness, have resulted in lower interest rates on borrowing and savings of millions of taxpayer dollars, Cognetti said.
“We have just made incredible strides from January 2020 until now,” Cognetti said. “It has really been a journey for us … the work that we have done, on the financial pieces, on the operational pieces that we have put together, have helped us get where we are today.”
First elected in 2019 to fill a vacancy, Cognetti was reelected to full four-year terms in 2021 and 2025.
In a wonky, 46-minute address, Cognetti delved into the nuts-and-bolts of running city government. She used a slide show of “then and now” aspects to highlight improvements in city departments, including police, fire, public works, parks and recreation, human resources, code enforcement and economic development. She touched on the administration’s work in ongoing large-scale projects involving stormwater upgrades and streetscape improvements.
University of Scranton President the Rev. Joseph G. Marina, S.J., and Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President Bob Durkin also each gave introductory remarks referencing the city’s positive track during Cognetti’s tenure.
The fates of the city and university are intertwined and the university benefits from city efforts to promote public safety, improve parks and recreation, and foster greater walkability downtown, Marina said.
“As the city goes, so does the university. And as the university — and even the broader eds and meds sector — goes, then so does the city,” Marina said. “We take pride in how the city has made such great strides in recent years, in stabilizing its finances, in providing greater efficiency with services and transactions, and modernizing and streamlining operations.”
Describing the city as the “hub and spokes” core of Lackawanna County and Northeast Pennsylvania, Durkin said positive developments that started with downtown Scranton revitalization have radiated outward to the city’s neighborhoods, throughout the county and beyond.
“It’s private investment, it’s public investment in our infrastructure and it’s doing the things that we need to do to continue to make Scranton and our area that much better,” Durkin said. “What happens in Scranton has a major impact throughout the region … that ripple effect, it keeps happening. Good things that happen here are moving their way throughout Lackawanna County.”
“Keep that in mind,” Durkin continued. “It is critically important to the entire region, and certainly to the entire economy of Northeastern Pennsylvania, that Scranton be in a strong financial position, in a strong economic development position, and we’re seeing that now.”
Scranton Councilman Patrick Flynn, who was elected last year and joined council in January, attended the State of the City address. Afterward, Flynn said, “I thought it was a good presentation. I’m looking forward to working together and making sure that we’re using the finances of the city and the financial status in the best way possible to move the city forward for the next generation.”
While running for mayor last year, Cognetti, a Democrat, also announced her intent to run in 2026 for Congress in the 8th District. U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., a Republican, holds that seat. Both are running for their respective party nominations in the May 19 primary election.
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at podium at left, delivers the annual State of the City address, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at the Kane Forum in Leahy Hall at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at podium at left, delivers the annual State of the City address, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at the Kane Forum in Leahy Hall at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at podium at left, delivers the annual State of the City address, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at the Kane Forum in Leahy Hall at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at podium at left, delivers the annual State of the City address, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at the Kane Forum in Leahy Hall at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at podium at left, delivers the annual State of the City address, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at the Kane Forum in Leahy Hall at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti gives the State of the City Address in the Kane Forum at University of Scranton’s Leahy Hall in Scranton Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti gives the State of the City Address in the Kane Forum at University of Scranton’s Leahy Hall in Scranton Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Bob Durkin, president and CEO of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, gifts Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti an umbrella before the State of the City Address held in the Kane Forum at University of Scranton’s Leahy Hall in Scranton Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti has conversation before the State of the City Address in the Kane Forum at University of Scranton’s Leahy Hall in Scranton Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Guests listen as Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti gives the State of the City Address in the Kane Forum at University of Scranton’s Leahy Hall in Scranton Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)