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Mercer commissioners introduce new budget
Officials said the levy would cost the average property owner $34 per year.
MERCER, Pa. – A 2-mill county property tax increase and a partial hiring freeze are features of Mercer County’s 2009 preliminary budget introduced Thursday. If passed, it will be the first county tax increase in four years. The general fund budget, which pays for county offices, shows an anticipated $1.9 million deficit.
County Commissioners Brian Beader and John Lechner voted for the preliminary budget and Commissioner Kenneth Ammann voted against it, stating he doesn’t believe the 2-mill increase is needed now.
The 2-mill increase — which is not reflected in the 2009 revenue figures — would be set aside so the county could raise enough money to meet its $6.2 million obligation if the financially troubled Woodland Place nursing facility is sold. A previous board of commissioners agreed several years ago to guarantee an $8.8 million bond for updating the facility, which was purchased from the county. Thus far the county has had to make $2.6 million worth of payments because Woodland Place has been unable to come up with the money. The nursing home has paid only $115,000 toward the debt.
Commissioners hinted Thursday that sale of the nursing home could be on the horizon and said this would require them to pay off the debt immediately. Otherwise, the county could pay off the facility in 2013 at earliest, saving millions of dollars in interest. Lechner said the commissioners remain firm in their previously stated commitment to keep the nursing home open.
Lechner said Thursday that things are looking up at Woodland Place with a new management company running the facility and two new members named to the board of directors. The facility is “aggressively” going after outstanding payables and negotiating with vendors on payment of outstanding bills, he added.
He said commissioners hope by the end of the year to “clarify” Woodland Place’s situation.
The 2 new mills would bring in $2 million annually and cost the average property owner $34 per year, officials said.
Despite the general fund deficit projection, the county does have $5 million in the bank, which it has saved from surpluses in previous years. But Fiscal Director John Logan said the 2-mill increase is still necessary to deal with the Woodland Place debt. He said the carryover balances from previous years are needed to provide a margin of safety to deal with 2008 and 2009 deficits as well as reductions in state reimbursements and unexpected expenses. Logan said the county should not let this surplus fund be depleted.
Logan provided figures showing that 2009 general fund revenue is expected to be $24.9 million, while expenses are anticipated at $26.9 million. The 2008 general fund budget figure was $26.6 million. The overall budget for 2009 is $64 million. This takes in the general fund plus all other funds, many of them federal and state dollars which pass through the county but over which the county has little control.
Aside from Woodland Place, personnel costs and a general increase in costs are driving up expenses in the new budget, commissioners said. Commissioners said earlier in the week they are cutting costs where possible and instituting a hiring freeze with a few exceptions for necessary jobs.
The county is negotiating contracts with three of the county’s unions, which account for four bargaining units, whose contracts expire Dec. 31. As a result, commissioners can only estimate their personnel costs for 2009. The units negotiating include Children and Youth Services, jail employees, courthouse workers and telecommunicators at the E-911 center. Sheriff’s deputies have one more year in their current contract.
The budget is available for public inspection at the commissioners’ office in the courthouse. Final adoption is set for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 4.