2016 County Budget Vote Thursday

Real Estate Taxes to Jump

ccc-logoLOCK HAVEN — The Clinton County commissioners will be gathering New Year’s Eve not to say goodbye to 2015 but to enact a budget for 2016.

The current board has set its final meeting for 10 a.m. this Thursday and if the commissioners follow up on the budget they first proposed on Dec. 3, county property owners can look for an 11 percent increase in their real estate taxes next year. The county commissioners at their initial December meeting gave the public its first look at their proposed 2016 fiscal plan. It amounts to $33.4 million and, if approved Thursday, raises the real estate levy from 5.4 mills to 6 mills in the new year.

cch-new-yearBoard chairman Pete Smeltz this week told The Record he expects the final document to “look much like it was as presented.” But he said he would reserve his final comments until the Thursday meeting, this following a final county board review on Wednesday of this week.

The commissioners said at the time of the budget introduction a month ago that their work had reduced a projected deficit from $2.5 million to $1.1 million. The commissioners said the proposed tax hike will generate another $1.1 million of additional revenue, sufficient to alleviate that shortfall.

Commissioner Jeff Snyder said the tax hike, the first in several years, means the average median household will see an increase of about $75 a year; Smeltz put that annual cost at approximately $750 for a home assessed at $125,000.

The budget will see an increase in many areas, including a $302,000 increase in county wages; $300,000 in the county contingency reserve; and $249,000 in children and youth service matching dollars.

The board in early December said they whittled proposed capital projects from over $1.5 million to $532,000, projects Smeltz said are “critical to future operations.” These include computer-related upgrades, security upgrades at the county correctional facility and new aerial photography for county mapping.

The commissioners said at the time of the budget introduction their task this year was made more difficult because of the lack of an approved state budget and indicated there could be some minor changes made, depending on what is in the ultimately approved state fiscal plan which still had not been finalized as of earlier this week.

The New Year’s Eve morning meeting will be the final for the current board; incumbent Republicans Smeltz and Snyder will be sworn in for second terms in a ceremony on Saturday of this week but for minority commissioner/Democrat Joel Long, Thursday will be his final meeting. Completing a second term, he will be replaced as of Saturday by fellow Democrat Paul Conklin who was the third successful November candidate after Smeltz and Snyder.

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