By Karen Blackledge
DANVILLE — The Montour County commissioners have pared a proposed 21 percent real estate tax hike down to a quarter of a mill increase, or 8 percent, for 2010.
They cut $235,000 in spending and transferred $200,000 from the operating reserve to help balance the budget, said board Chairman Trevor Finn.
Even with that, it left a shortfall of $253,160, resulting in the first tax increase since 2007.
The quarter-mill increase would raise the real estate tax from 2.99 mills to 3.249 mills. The value of that millage is $1.13 million.
This would amount to an increase of $62.75 on a property assessed at $250,000, $25 on a property assessed at $100,000 and $3.75 on a $15,000 mobile home, according to Vice Chairman Jack Gerst.
The commissioners tentatively adopted the budget for 2010 Tuesday. General fund expenditures are $8.24 million, and general fund revenues are $8.26 million. The 2010 budget is 11 percent higher than the 2009 spending plan of $7.43 million.
Finn said spending cuts ranged from $50 in postage to $50,000 in the county retirement contribution. Cuts include no money for recreation with the county using tourism dollars for recreation, no money for the Danville-Riverside Airport, no funds for the West Nile program, which has been discontinued by the state, and keeping budgets flat for the conservation district and Penn State Extension Service, Finn said.
“The airport seems to be doing fine on its own. I hope the state will reconsider the West Nile program, but at this point, we can’t afford to continue it,” Finn said. The program is estimated at $60,000.
The commissioners included $100,000 in the budget for the district attorney’s salary, assuming the county will be paid by the state for its 65 percent share of the salary for 2008, 2009 and 2010, he said.
The budget shortfall results from health insurance rising by 32 percent per employee, the annual retirement contribution increasing 57 percent and utility costs increasing 30 percent.
The commissioners were able to cut money from the retirement contribution since investments look positive and the actuary may be able recalculate the amount the county pays by using a lower percentage of employee raises. The county’s retirement contribution is due in April.
On Tuesday, the county received $19,000 from the state for part of the DA’s salary owed for 2008.
The general fund budget is inflated by $755,970 due to day care grant pass-through funds. The 2010 budget includes a carryover of $185,241 with no capital projects planned.
Finn said office holders worked the entire year to keep spending down. “They helped get the budget where it is. It could have been a lot worse,” he said.
Other budgets the commissioners tentatively approved were $171,540 in expenditures and $279,518 in revenues for liquid fuels and $638,997 in expenses and $659,489 in revenues for transit.
The commissioners also approved a tax anticipation loan to go in effect Jan. 5 for $1.27 million at a rate of 3.12 percent from FNB Bank. The loan would be paid back in a year or sooner.
Finn said if the state doesn’t come through with its share of the money for the DA’s salary for 2008 through 2010, “We will be going into 2011 with a $300,000 shortfall.”
