'06 budget holds the line on taxes

Commissioners received a tongue-lashing from three county officeholders.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MERCER, Pa. -- Mercer County commissioners surprised everyone Thursday by adopting a 2006 budget that does not increase property taxes for the first time since 2000.
In November, by a split vote, commissioners introduced a preliminary budget that included a 0.25-mill property tax increase to keep the bond sinking fund at its required level.
But Thursday, after some discussion, commissioners agreed that by cutting, they can make it through next year without a tax increase and unanimously adopted a $24.7 million general fund budget with a $13,758 projected year-end balance.
Fiscal Director John Logan said instead of raising taxes, $125,000 will be taken out of the general fund contingencies to meet debt service. The same amount will be taken out of the general fund in 2007 and 2008, he said, to meet payments on the 2001 debt.
Commissioner Olivia Lazor said if expected revenues are not enough to make the payments, a 0.5-mill tax increase will be needed in 2007. Commissioner Brian Beader, who had supported a 0.25-mill increase, said he doesn't want a tax increase avoided because it is an election year and then later "a huge increase to make up for that."
Brooks, the only commissioner to oppose the 0.25-mill increase in the preliminary budget, has maintained the county can make it through 2006 if it is frugal.
About that balance
The paltry 2006 anticipated year-end balance does not leave the county in as serious a predicament as it would appear. Logan acknowledged Thursday that there is a $4.6 million general fund budget surplus accumulated from 2002 to 2004 which is not reflected in the budget figures. But he said residents should not look at the money as a "spendable resource."
He said it needs to be kept apart from the budget as a safety cushion for cash flow problems, for example when state or federal funding reimbursement for mandated expenditures is not immediately forthcoming. The money is also is there for emergencies such as cuts in federal and state programs where the county is mandated to make up the difference, he said.
He added that its existence puts the county in a good financial situation, which makes it possible to borrow money.
In addition, he expects this year's general fund to end the year with a small balance, he said.
Logan had earlier stated that county revenues are expected to increase 4.6 percent in the new year due to increased commercial and residential construction and a savings in health insurance premium costs due to employees' paying higher co-pays in the new year.
Other concerns
However, there are also new demands on the budget, including a possible $500,000 increase the county may be required to make to Children and Youth Services, as well as declining revenue from traditional land telephone lines, which help fund the E-911 Center.
Whether commissioners will step in and save the countywide recycling program operated by Mercer County Solid Waste Authority is another question for the new year. A recent Commonwealth Court ruling has disallowed a fee charged to landfills that accept county waste to be used for local recycling programs.
The county's program is expected to continue until the end of the year, but it is uncertain what will happen after that.
Three officeholders attended Thursday's meeting to criticize commissioners for failing to let them in on budget decisions. Sheriff Bill Romine, District Attorney James Epstein and Clerk of Courts Kathy Kloos told commissioners they were notified by an e-mail two hours before Thursday's meeting that the budget would be adopted Thursday. They said they were given no details and were left unable to tell their employees about salary or positions next year.
"You don't even extend us the courtesy to sit down with us and tell us where the cuts will come," Romine said.
Commissioners had announced at their last meeting that they intended to adopt the budget Thursday.