LAWRENCE COUNTY Budget proposal includes tax rise

There were new costs for the employee pension fund and county 911.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County property owners can expect to pay more in real estate taxes next year.
County commissioners introduced a 2004 budget with a 1-mill real estate tax increase. It represents a 25 percent overall increase in the $28,190,051 spending plan.
The increase was needed to balance the budget that was at times more than $4 million in deficit when commissioners first started working on it.
One mill of tax brings in about $2.87 million.
The county's overall millage will be 5.07 -- with 4.33 mills going to the general fund, 0.63 mills going toward debt service and 0.11 mills to the county library fund.
One mill of tax equals $1 for every $1,000 of a property's assessment.
A person living in a house assessed at $40,000 would see their 2004 county real estate taxes increase from $162.80 to $202.80 under this plan. A person living in a $100,000 home would see their taxes go from $407 in 2003 to $507 next year.
Commissioner Roger DeCarbo voted against introducing the budget. He has said he will not support a real estate tax increase. DeCarbo said he wants to freeze wages and reopen union contracts to reduce the county's health care costs.
Salary increases
The 2004 budget holds the line on salary increases to all nonunion workers and elected officials, said Charleen Micco, the county's chief clerk. Increases will be given only to union workers whose contracts were approved before this year, she said.
The county did add some new expenses in the 2004 budget.
The county is contributing $620,000 to the employee pension fund. The payment is needed because of the poor performance of the stock market in the last three years. Micco said there hasn't been a general fund contribution in several years to the pension fund.
The county also added $100,000 to the budget for the county 911 center. Commissioners say the money is needed because there are fewer people using land line telephones. A $1.25 telephone surcharge funded the department in past years, but the overall number is decreasing with the increased popularity of cellular telephones.
Micco noted the increased tax revenue is needed because the county expects to have no cash carry over into 2004.
Nursing home
Commissioners had budgeted $470,000 from the sale of Hill View Manor into the 2003 budget, but the deal fell through and the home was not sold.
The county did budget minimally for the county nursing home, putting $446,000 in the general fund. Earlier on Thursday Commissioner Brian Burick had proposed the county start the process to close the home. Burick said money will be needed to operate the facility until all patients are moved to other nursing homes.
This week, there were 57 patients in the nursing home, which is licensed to care for more than 130. Burick said if that number does not increase, the home would need $1.1 million from the county general fund to operate throughout 2004.
County commissioners are expected to vote on the final budget Dec. 31.
Micco said she expects some of the figures to change before the end of the year. County code allows officials to make an overall budget increase of only 10 percent after it has been introduced.