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Lawrence County holds the line on property tax
NEW CASTLE, Pa.
Lawrence County property taxes will remain the same, and no layoffs are anticipated under the proposed 2011 budget unveiled Tuesday by Lawrence County commissioners.
The proposed general- fund total of $25,760,428 is a 1.8 percent decline from this year, a decrease which officials said was made possible by county officials’ and departments’ making cuts where they could.
Though a 10 percent cut across the board was the initial goal, the final overall reduction in the general fund was closer to 2 percent, officials said.
County Administrator Jim Gagliano said that multiyear contracts require the county to give a 3 percent raise to unionized employees next year, and officials said the raise will be extended to the nonunionized employees and to management employees. The county has approximately 390 employees, about 300 of them unionized.
In addition, the county is making a $1.2 million “annual required contribution” to the employee retirement fund in 2011. Costs of employee health-insurance premiums are expected to increase by 10 percent.
On the revenue side, the county’s assessed value has increased only by a third of a percent since last year, bringing the county’s total assessed value to $3.45 billion.
The county expects to make it through 2010 in the black but doesn’t expect to have anything left over to start the new year.
Commissioners said they will continue to require that vacated positions not be filled for six months. They also vow to reduce travel and the use of take-home vehicles.
Although the budget is tight, the county’s situation is better than at this time last year, when officials imposed a 15 percent property-tax increase and closed the courthouse for two weeks to save on personnel costs.
The budget will be displayed for 20 days in the commissioners office on the first floor of the courthouse or can be viewed at the county’s website, www.co.lawrence.pa.us.
Final adoption is set for 10 a.m. Dec. 29 in the commissioners meeting room in the basement of the courthouse.