MERCER COUNTY Commissioners increase tax millage in 2003 budget

The no vote was cast by Olivia Lazor, whom one officerholder accused of grandstanding.
BY MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- Residents will pay 19 percent more in county real estate taxes next year.
Mercer County commissioners passed with a 2-1 vote Thursday a 2003 budget that includes a 2.75-mill increase, bringing the total tax millage to 17.25. Last year the county tax rate was increased by 36 percent.
The two commissioners who voted for the new increase, Gene Brenneman and Kenneth Seamans, had the support of every officeholder and department head who spoke at Thursday's meeting.
The dissenter, Commissioner Olivia Lazor, who said she voted as an advocate for taxpayers, was accused by one officeholder of grandstanding. She said instead of raising taxes, commissioners should have imposed cuts across the board on all county offices.
Taxpayers pay $19.25 for each mill of real estate valuation. County Fiscal Administrator Tresa Templeton said the increase will amount to $53 more per year for an average taxpayer. The new annual bill for the owner of a $100,000 home would be $420, Lazor said.
Where it's going
The budget breakdown includes 14.5 mills for general operating expenses, which pay for day-to-day county operations, and 2.25 mills in the bond retirement fund, which is paying for the soon-to-be constructed county jail and also for the courthouse renovation project, which is under way.
An additional half-mill also is being imposed for the capital reserve fund, to cover unexpected repairs or other expenses. No millage was imposed this year for that fund, which is nearly depleted.
Lazor argued that instead of the tax increase, commissioners should have cut all department budgets by 5 percent to make up for the two major increases in the budget. These include the cost of housing the overflow of prisoners in other counties, which is expected to cost $1.5 million in 2003, and the cost of employee health insurance, which rose 33 percent this year and will go up an additional 25 percent in April.
But Seamans said such across-the-board cutting would "cause a wreck" in many offices. He added that although he doesn't like raising taxes, "there is no alternative -- period." Brenneman thanked the row offices and officeholders for "holding the line" on expenses.
More criticism
District Attorney James Epstein pointed out that the poorest taxpayers whom Lazor claims to be protecting are those who get hurt most by cuts in public safety services. He added that all the services provided by the county are not equally important and should not be treated as if they are. He added, for example, that the heavy judicial caseload has made the addition of a fourth judge necessary.
Sheriff Bill Romine said Lazor's proposed budget-cutting does not take into account the fact that "we have certain constitutional and statutory rights to fulfill." He said that in the past 29 years, tax increases were imposed 19 times and that the failure to raise taxes earlier has contributed to the current fiscal crisis.
Clerk of Courts Kathy Kloos told Lazor that although she respects Lazor's work for the county, "you do have a tendency to grandstand." She chided Lazor for failing to work with the officeholders on the budget.
Response
In response to other criticisms, Lazor conceded that the commissioners' decision in 1999 and 2000 to lower the millage by 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively, may have been wrong. At that time, the county received a large overdue payment from the state for Children and Youth Services and used the approximately $800,000 to avoid raising taxes. Lazor said of those reductions, "in hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have."
She said her vote is not aimed at officeholders who are trying to keep expenses down. But she said, for example, that some departments are ignoring the county policy against providing part-time employees with benefits.
She added, "I'm not grandstanding. I'm saying someone has to vote for the people."
Lazor noted the commissioners have done their share to cut their own costs, reducing their own operations from 11 department heads to five. Some departments have reduced their expenses, but others haven't, she said.