Published: November 19, 2005 12:10 am            

Cambria County hopes to avoid tax increase

EBENSBURG — Cambria County commissioners say they are combing through proposed expenditures to reduce spending in 2006 with state cuts in funding looming.

“Our goal is to hold the line on taxes. We’re hoping to achieve that,” Commissioner Milan Gjurich told reporters after Friday’s commissioners meeting.

The commissioners will unveil the 2006 fiscal package Wednesday. Until then, they will be reviewing the proposed budgets submitted by department heads and officeholders, Commissioner Bill Harris said.

Mike Gelles, county finance director, said the county is expecting a $2 million cut for Children & Youth Services and $970,000 for juvenile court programs. The money actually is federal funding allocated by the state, Gelles said.

The commissioners are eager to avoid a tax increase after having hiked taxes twice in the last two years.

In early 2004 after taking office, they adopted a 9.5-mill increase to avoid what they said was a fiscal crisis because of shortfalls left by the outgoing board.

In December, they imposed a 1-mill tax increase – with a half-mill going for parks and recreation and the other half for general government operations.

Those increases brought the tax levy to 22.25 mills: 15.5 for general government, 5 for debt service, 0.75 for the community college and 0.5 mill each for the county library system and for parks and recreation.

In addition, the commissioners also set the assessment ratio at 100 percent, up from 50 percent, of a property’s assessed value. The assessments are used by municipalities in calculating tax millage rates.

The 100 percent ratio would enable the commissioners to raise taxes. Under the former ratio, the county was at the maximum set by law.

For a homeowner whose property has an assessed value of $40,000, county taxes now total $890.

Cambria County’s budget this year totals $141 million, but only a fraction of that, $41 million, goes for general government. And most of the budget is financed through state and federal grants rather than local taxes. Local property-tax revenues were estimated at $24.6 million for 2005.

At Friday’s meeting, the commissioners went on record opposing the proposed state funding caps. Those caps put the burden on local taxpayers to fund state-mandated programs that cannot be eliminated, they said.

They also are opposing proposed legislation on disability, health-care costs of sheriffs and deputies under the state’s Heart and Lung Act. Increased costs would fall back on the county, they said.

In line with the goal of keeping a tight rein on costs, the commissioners also adopted a policy requiring that all grant applications must get their approval before they are submitted to state or federal agencies.

The concern is whether the grants would require local matching funds, the commissioners said.



Sandra K. Reabuck can be reached at 539-5320 or sreabuck@tribdem.com.

        

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