Proposed 2019 county budget will hike taxes if passed

Nov. 29--It will take a 3.1-mill increase in county real estate taxes -- a jump of more than 16 percent -- to balance Crawford County's proposed 2019 budget, but county commissioners aren't in agreement on an increase.

A proposed $73.2 million budget for 2019 was presented at Wednesday's commissioners meeting by Brian Connolly, the county's chief financial officer. The $73.2 million budget includes $33.7 million for the general fund, which covers general operating expenses for the county.

To balance the proposed 2019 budget's general fund, a 3.1-mill increase in county real estate taxes is proposed plus a transfer of about $446,000 in anticipated cash carryover from the current budget, Connolly said. The proposed increase breaks down as 2.35 mills toward general operating expenses; 0.65 mills toward a loan payment on the new county judicial center; and 0.10 mills toward the county library tax.

The 0.10-mill increase in the library tax would be a pass-through, meaning that amount would go to the Crawford County Federated Library System, not the county, Connolly said.

Since 1986, the county has levied a 0.6-mill real estate tax dedicated to funding the county Federated Library System's nine libraries in Meadville, Titusville, Cambridge Springs, Cochranton, Conneautville, Conneaut Lake, Linesville, Saegertown and Springboro. The tax has not increased since it was established by public referendum.

The county's current real estate tax millage is 19.1 mills, which means a property with an assessed value of $25,000 has county property taxes of $477.50 a year.

View the budget

Copies of Crawford County's proposed 2019 budget are on display at the commissioners office at the county courthouse, 903 Diamond Park Square, and Meadville Public Library, 848 N. Main St., both in Meadville; and at Benson Memorial Library, 213 N. Franklin St., Titusville.

Click here to view the proposed budget is online.

If the increase is approved as proposed, county millage would become 22.2 mills. That equates to a $77.50 increase in county real estate taxes on that same $25,000 assessed property -- putting it at $555 a year.

Commissioner John Amato, who publicly has expressed concerns over the budget the past few weeks, again was blunt in his assessment of the county's financial situation.

"I won't vote for the budget. I didn't do my job. I'm mad at myself," Amato said. "There were certain things that I should have held the line on that I let go. I blame myself partly for being in the position we're in. I'll just leave it at that."

Francis Weiderspahn Jr. and Chris Soff, the county's other two commissioners, said the situation was created by themselves.

"We all participated in it," said Weiderspahn, the commission's chairman. "It's on all our shoulders."

Soff said the county is in the midst of union negotiations that will involve some salary increases plus there are additional ongoing expenses associated with the new judicial center and public safety buildings.

"We've got about 700 county employees. Anybody working at any job would expect their salary to increase year after year. How are you going to pay for that?" Soff asked.

The county loses about $70,000 to $80,000 a year operating Woodcock Lake Park and loses money owning the fairgrounds, Soff said.

"Maybe we should sell the fairgrounds, we don't make money on it," he said. "We value those things as services to the citizens of Crawford County."

Soff said he felt it wasn't any one issue causing the county's financial constraints. He said the county will have to spend about $300,000 in 2019 to replace all the computers running the Windows 7 operating system since support for it from Microsoft has been discontinued.

"Revenue is flat, assess value has stayed flat for 20-some years," Soff said.

"That's the world we live in. We've all done it to ourselves," Soff said. "I'm not blaming anybody more than ourselves. These are realities that we know we're faced with."

Budget breakdown

The proposed 2019 budget for Crawford County is available for public inspection and totals $73,254,962 in expenses.

The breakdown of projected expenses for 2019 are:

--General operating, $33,697,680

--Domestic relations, $1,680,835

--Children and youth/juvenile probation, $14,611,104

--Mental health/intellectually disabled/early intervention, $8,103,389

--Liquid fuels, $533,000

--Medical Assistance Transportation Program, $993,509

--Hazardous materials, $87,818

--Wireline 911, $1,664,873

--Care center, $11,882,754

Before commissioners began their discussions of the budget, two residents spoke on the proposed 2019 budget, asking the county to control its spending.

Bruce Lallier of Vernon Township said all three commissioners had been on the board long enough that they should not have been surprised by the budget and that there was overspending by the county.

"I don't think that's good stewardship," Lallier, a former Vernon Township supervisor, said while asking county government to "live within your means because it's our means as well."

Jason McMaster of Fairfield Township said the county has to live within its budgets.

"You're spending way too much," said McMaster, who is a township supervisor.

McMaster recommended the county sell assets such as the county Care Center and the land of the former county farm and make county employees pay more toward health insurance.

"It's kind of hard for us to pay for our own (health insurance) and the county's," McMaster said.

While commissioners took no formal vote Wednesday for a preliminary approval of the budget, under Pennsylvania law they only have to approve a new budget by Dec. 31.

Wednesday's public presentation qualified as the start of a minimum 20-day public comment period on the budget.

Following Wednesday's meeting, Weiderspahn said he didn't know if any additional cuts could be made.

The last time county commissioners raised real estate taxes to cover operational costs was for the 2011 budget, Weiderspahn said.

"Other than the quarter mill to pay the loan (on the judicial center), we've gone that many years without a tax increase," Weiderspahn said.

In 2016, the county raised property taxes by 0.25 mills to start paying toward the cost of the new judicial center, which opened in 2017.

Commissioners said the county needs a total of 0.9 mills to cover the cost of borrowing and construction for the judicial center project. The 0.25-mill increase in 2016 and the proposed 0.65-mill increase in 2019 equals the 0.9-mill total estimate.

Both Weiderspahn and Soff said they didn't want to keep using budget carryover and reserve funds to balance the budget.

"We said it has to be a combination of things," Soff said, "and I think we have to find that somewhere."

Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.

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