No Clinton County tax hike in 2023
LOCK HAVEN, PA – Clinton County property owners for the third year in a row will see their real estate levy remain unchanged in 2023. The county commissioners on Thursday gave unanimous approval to a preliminary budget for next year. It amounts to $53.3 million and keeps the real estate millage at 6.2 mills.
Ed Zack from the county’s financial consultant Susquehanna Accounting Services gave a brief overview on the proposed budget on Thursday. He said next year’s document is $10 million higher than this year, the jump attributed to $10 million in grants the county has received. He said $250,000 in “911” money from previous years has been used to offset local match grant requirements to obtain the $10 million.
In his comments, Zack said wages for next year are up 6.25 percent, noting additional hiring at the Clinton County Correctional Facility and the need to stay competitive with other counties in hiring in the area of corrections, Children and Youth and the county 911 center. He noted a 7.6 percent increase in medical benefit costs and said the county’s retirement contribution will be down for next year.
Zack said there has been very little increase in the county’s assessed value and that most revenue sources have “flat-lined.” He said prison costs of $7.2 million account for 27 percent of the general fund budget and Children and Youth at $6.3 million accounts for 25 percent.
Only commissioner Jeff Snyder commented on the proposed budget. He said in his 11 years on the board, next year’s was the “toughest” to bring in with no tax hike. He thanked county staff and department heads for their work in the budget preparation and noted that “not everybody got what they wanted.”
The county has seen only one real estate tax hike since 2016; that came in 2019 for the 2020 calendar year and moved the real estate levy from 6.0 mills to the current 6.2 rate.
The preliminary document approved Thursday will be placed on the county website with final approval due at the commissioners’ Thursday, Dec. 29 meeting. Chief Clerk Jann Meyers said printed copies of the budget may also be obtained at the county’s Piper Building.
