HERMITAGE Millage to drop, but taxes remain the same

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The real estate millage in the city will drop from 15 to 5 next year, but residents aren't getting a tax break.
Mercer County adopted a new property value asssessment ratio this year to determine real estate taxes, changing its assessment from 331/3 to 100 percent of the value of a property.
Municipal governments have followed suit and, at 100 percent assessment, 5 mills will generate the same amount of revenue in Hermitage -- about $1.1 million -- as did 15 mills at 331/3 percent.
The net result is no increase or decrease in taxes for the 11th straight year, said Gary Hinkson, city manager.
The municipal wage tax also remains constant at 1.75 percent.
Budget: City commissioners are expected to introduce the $8,545,364 general fund budget Tuesday, he said.
It reflects a spending increase of nearly $900,000. Hinkson said, however, that the bulk of that increase can be found in money carried over from this year to be transferred from the general fund to the city's capital reserve fund to pay the long-term debt on the $5 million renovation and expansion on the municipal building.
The city plans to transfer slightly more than $1.6 million into that fund under the new budget, he said.
A breakdown of major expenditure areas shows some increases and some decreases. They include (with this year's allocation in parentheses):
UPolice: $1,843,514 ($1,766,062).
UStreets: $1,481,674 ($1,440,631).
UInsurances: $1,383,918 ($1,214,876).
UPlanning and Development: $420,769 ($410,558).
UFire: $341,807 ($332,820).
UGeneral government: $295,469 ($307,627).
URecreation: $231,511 ($164,521).
UFinance: $181,271 ($195,379).
UMunicipal building: $176,267 ($140,089).