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Lawrence County property taxes rise
The state still owes $900,000 to the county.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Lawrence County residents will pay more county property taxes next year.
The county commissioners agreed earlier this week it is necessary to raise taxes to balance the 2010 budget. The amount of the increase will be announced when they unveil the proposed 2010 budget Dec. 10.
Once the proposed budget is made public, commissioners can still make changes of 25 percent to line items and 10 percent to the total. The final budget will be adopted Dec. 31.
The tax would be the first increase since 2004.
In the meantime, county officials are scrambling to meet the remaining 2009 expenses. Commissioner Steve Craig cautioned that the county is not certain to end this year in the black.
Although commissioners just closed the courthouse for the week of Thanksgiving and will close it again Christmas week to save on personnel and energy costs, the savings are not guaranteed to make it through the year. Much depends on factors outside the control of county officials.
County Controller Dave Gettings reported that as of Tuesday morning, the general fund balance was at zero.
He had about $300,000 in tax and court receipts coming in later this week, however, as well as operating reserve funds of $691,381, which will be adequate to meet Friday’s payroll of about $500,000. He said vendors will be paid as the money becomes available.
Treasurer Richard Rapone reported that $1.2 million is still outstanding in 2009 county property taxes, and he is pushing late taxpayers to send in the money. He said collections were up $100,000 over last November, likely the result of Rapone’s sending out late notices earlier.
There is no way to know, however, how much of the remaining delinquent tax total will be paid by year’s end, he said.
In addition, the state still owes Lawrence County about $900,000 in reimbursements for Children and Youth Services costs the county paid while the state budget was stalemated.
This outstanding money is largely responsible for the county’s budgetary problems, said county Administrator Jim Gagliano after the meeting.
He expects the $900,000 to be paid back to the county by the end of this year, but again, there are no guarantees. He said if the money comes through, the county’s financial picture will look much brighter.
Commissioners also opened bids for a $3.95 million tax-anticipation note they will take to get the county through the first part of 2010. The commissioners will review the bids before a decision is made.
Since there is no anticipated carry-over balance, they have to borrow more than this year’s $2 million tax-anticipation note.
Commissioner Richard DeBlasio said that nearby Mercer County already has built a shutdown week into its 2010 calendar as a cost- saving measure, and Erie County has requested information on how the courts here operated during the shutdown.
Lawrence was the first county in Pennsylvania to close county offices for a week as a cost- saving measure.