NEW CASTLE Budget raises taxes after all

Commissioners budgeted $1 million for the closing of Hill View Manor.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County property owners are going to have to dig a little deeper into their wallets this year after all.
County commissioners introduced a new 2004 budget Tuesday that calls for a .99 real estate millage increase.
The proposed budget calls for a millage to be set at 5.06. People who own a house assessed at $50,000 would see a $50 increase in their tax bill this year.
The 2004 budget passed by the previous board of commissioners called for no tax increase, but had a 20 percent cut in most salaries countywide, something the new board felt was unrealistic.
"The three of us recognized the need to craft a more workable budget," said Commissioner Dan Vogler. "Every dollar we could save [in expenses] is a dollar we can save the taxpayers."
The board met with 29 departments last week looking for ways to reduce cost and increase revenues, but it still wasn't enough to forgo a tax increase.
One-time costs
Commissioners said the tax increase was needed to cover several one-time costs needed this year. Those costs include the closing of Hill View Manor, the county nursing home, and a county contribution to the employee pension fund.
Charleen Micco, chief clerk and county administrator, said the revenues in the new 2004 budget are much more realistic than the original version passed last year.
Commissioners did not include the sale of land as a revenue, something included in budgets the last two years that did not happen, and they also lowered the expected tax revenue collection to a more realistic number, she said.
The new budget is $27,888,153, about $2.8 million more than the previous year. Micco said a good portion of that increase is because the county had to borrow an additional $2.5 million in its tax anticipation note to cover costs in the first few months of this year.
Nursing home
Micco also said the county budgeted $1 million for the closing of Hill View Manor.
Commissioner Steve Craig said they plan to look at that number sometime midyear and adjust it. He said the figure is based on all employees collecting unemployment benefits for 26 weeks.
Craig said he still hopes to work on the budget in the next week to make more cuts. Commissioners will vote on the final budget at 10 a.m. Feb. 13.
cioffi@vindy.com