SHARON Property taxes to increase

Council gave 3-percent pay increases to nonunion city employees.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
SHARON, Pa. -- Layoffs have been averted, but a 5.5-mill property tax increase and an 11-percent increase in the sewer user's fee have been imposed as part of the budget city council has adopted for 2003.
Council gave final passage Monday afternoon to an $8,020,994 general fund budget, which is $66,786 higher than this year's figure.
The property tax increase brings total millage to 42.5 and raises the average bill for a residential taxpayer $71 per year. The sewer fee increase will average $2.21 per month per household.
By cutting individual line items in various departments, the city was able to avoid the layoffs of two police officers, two firefighters and two street department workers.
The cuts will cover the cost of retaining the six employees, said Michael Gasparich, city finance director.
Pay raises
Council also adopted 3-percent pay increases for 13 nonunion city employees, effective Jan. 1, which Gasparich said were factored into the budget.
Union employees are getting 3-percent raises Jan. 1 as part of their contracts, and Gasparich said it would have been unfair to deny the increases to nonunion employees.
The combination of a sluggish economy, several years without a tax increase, the failure of taxes to keep up with inflation, and escalating employee health insurance costs have combined to create the city's financial crunch, Gasparich said.
"To keep safety forces ... intact, which the people want, then we needed to raise the 51/2 mills," Council President Fred Hoffman said.
"All the phone calls I received were all in favor of 'Do whatever you can to keep the safety forces,''' he said.
"I don't think that we worked hard enough to keep the budget spending under control,'' said Councilman Lou Rotunno, the lone dissenter on the budget.
"I don't believe that our citizens should be asked to sustain such a large increase," in taxes and fees, he said. He also called for the city to share services, such as police and fire protection, with other municipalities to save money.