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Lawrence County to raise 2010 property taxes 15%
NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Lawrence County residents will be asked to pay about 15 percent more in county property taxes in 2010.
County commissioners said that the increase is necessary to keep the county running.
Commissioners introduced their proposed 2010 budget Thursday, which calls for a 0.95-mill increase in the county-property tax. A mill is one dollar for every $1,000 of assessed value, according to J.R. Hardester of the Lawrence County Assessment Office, and the increase would cost the owner of a $100,000 house an additional $100 per year. It will bring the county an additional $3.23 million. The millage increase would be the first since 2004.
Current county millage is 5.312, and it will increase to 6.263 next year. Of that, 5.496 mills will go to general operations, 0.657 mills to debt service and 0.110 mills for the three libraries in the county.
The proposed budget will be on display for 20 days in the commissioners’ office at the courthouse before a final adoption vote Dec. 31, online at www.co.lawrence.pa.us and can also be copied at the courthouse for 25 cents per page.
The total general-fund budget is $26.2 million, a four-tenths percent decrease from 2009. The overall budget, which includes federal and state funds that are channeled through the county for specific purposes, is $83.9 million, a 13.6 percent decrease from 2009.
The budget reflects 20 percent reductions in funding for outside agencies such as the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce and the New Castle Playhouse.
Representatives of the county 4-H program, funded by the conservation district, had objected to the cuts when commissioners met Tuesday. Commissioners have also received a large number of phone calls and emails about the 4-H program, which could be cut by 50 percent as a result of the conservation district cuts.
The budget still includes 3 percent cost-of-living increases for all county employees except for elected officials who have agreed to forgo their increase next year.
Both unions representing county employees have been asked to give up the raise in their contract. If they agree, the increases could be eliminated for everyone in 2010.
The budget also includes a $1.5 million contribution to the county’s Retirement Fund required to keep it 100 percent funded.
Commissioners said the county budget will be impacted by the state budget for 2010-11 to be introduced Feb. 2 with anticipated adoption July 1. A 101-day late state budget this year forced the county to keep programs running with county money and wait for state reimbursement, most of which still has not arrived.