NEW CASTLE No-frills budget raises workers' pay by 3%-4%

City tax collection amounts will basically remain unchanged.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- If there is one message city Business Administrator John DiMuccio and Mayor Timothy Fulkerson are looking to send to city council next year, it's don't spend too much money.
They say there is little extra cash coming into the city for the 2003 budget.
"This is a budget that has no frills to it. It's basically a generic budget. We didn't do anything different," Fulkerson said. The budget will be displayed for 30 days and will likely be adopted in December.
The amount of money collected in city taxes next year will be roughly the same as last year, but residents will see a change in the millage number because of countywide reassessment.
Millage
The millage rate in 2002 was 35.710 mills. It is now 8.416 mills.
DiMuccio said the millage decrease was proportionate to the increased value placed on land in the city through reassessment. The total assessed value of property in the city jumped from $115,822,720 to $516,058,300.
While the amount of money coming into the city won't change, individual residents' taxes are likely to change because of countywide reassessment, he said.
DiMuccio said city officials have decided to keep the two-tiered tax system, in which land without a structure is taxed at a higher rate than property with a building. There was some debate that that would be abolished after reassessment.
DiMuccio said there are no special projects or any cuts in the coming year's budget.
Raises
City employees can expect 3 percent to 4 percent wage increases in the coming year. DiMuccio noted that the city has not settled contracts with the police, clerical, public works and Teamsters unions yet, but money has been set aside in the city contingency fund for pay increases for those employees.
DiMuccio noted that most of those increases are being paid from money the city saved on medical benefits by changing carriers.