County Real Estate Taxes Go Up
Clinton County Budget 2016 Includes 11% Hike for Property Owners
LOCK HAVEN – Clinton County property owners can look for an 11 percent increase in their real estate taxes next year. The county commissioners today gave the public its first look at their proposed 2016 fiscal plan. It amounts to $33.4 million and raises the real estate levy from 5.4 mills to 6 mills in the new year.
Board chairman Pete Smeltz said budget work reduced a projected deficit from 2.5 million dollars to $1.1 million. The commissioners said the 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 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 budget will soon be posted on the county website, the commissioners said, and welcomed the public to budget sessions the remainder of this month. They announced a first and final adoption on New Year’s Eve, Thursday, Dec. 31. They said the 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.
All three commissioners, including outgoing board member Joel Long, said they supported the proposal. Commissioner-elect Paul Conklin was present and offered comments relative to the budget and the state delay in enacting its budget.
