MERCER COUNTY Officials approve issuance of bonds

The average property owner will pay about $24 more per year on the new debt.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- Mercer County commissioners have authorized issuance of $34 million in bonds for courthouse renovation, construction of a county jail, purchase of new voting machines and improvements to two district justice offices.
Part of the proceeds will also be used to refinance some $3.1 million from a 1994 bond issue, saving the county $100,000, according to Michael Sudsina, vice president for investment banking for A.G. Edwards & amp; Sons Inc. of Pittsburgh, which is handling bond financing.
Commissioners do not yet have a breakdown of the cost of each project.
Commissioner Brian Shipley noted at Thursday's meeting that all the projects will have to be put out for competitive bids.
Residents will continue to pay two mills on the debt in 2002 when loan repayment starts.
Jeff Swartzbeck, county fiscal director, said the two mills in 2002 will actually be equal to six of the current mills because of the change in tax ratio that will go into effect next year.
The net effect of the bond issuance, he said, will be to raise the average property owner's tax bill by $2 per month.
Swartzbeck said there is no cap on the millage. Sudsina said investors have agreed to interest rates ranging from 3.3 percent in 2002 to 5.31 percent in 2031.
Other action: Commissioners agreed to advertise for bids for the sale of a building on Gooseberry Alley, Mercer. The property has been used for years for storage and is no longer needed by the county.
Adam McCullough was hired in a new temporary position in the Soil Conservation District for collecting and testing mosquitoes for the West Nile Virus. He will be paid $8 hourly from a state grant.
No mosquitoes carrying the virus have been found here, but they have been found in south-central Pennsylvania and in Erie County.
Commissioners entered a one-year agreement with Richard G. English and Associates Inc. of Sharon for $4,377 monthly to value county real estate that has been improved or, for other reasons, warrants a reassessment.
The firm also will be paid $50 hourly for formal appeals and $35 hourly for other services.
Computers: Commissioners awarded a bid for software-support receipt printers for an indexing system upgrade for the recorder's office to Cott Systems of Worthington, Ohio, the lowest of three bidders at $2,292 per month.
They authorized Mercer County Community Transit to advertise for the purchase of three 12-passenger vehicles for the handicapped.
They also approved mental health-retardation service agreements with several providers from April 1 through June 30.
Commissioners also hired a temporary full-time senior procedure clerk for the tax claim office to replace a worker on medical leave at $8.95 hourly; a part-time dispatcher for the E-911 center at $5.95 an hour and a domestic relations enforcement officer at $20,360 a year.