SUNBURY - Northumberland County property owners are now faced with a 1 1/2-mill tax increase as part of the 2014 $68.5 million budget approved by the county commissioners Friday.
Passed 2-1 with Commissioners Stephen Bridy and Vinny Clausi, who called into the meeting from Florida, voting in favor and Commissioner Rick Shoch voting against, the millage increase will result in property owners paying between $14 and $65 more in real estate taxes next year, depending on the type of home they own.
Budget director Jeff McClintock said taxpayers with a property assessed at $150,000 will pay an extra $22.50 a year.
The commissioners, who failed to approve the budget twice in November, had until Dec. 31 to pass a final spending plan.
The tax increase will generate an estimated $1.1 million for the debt fund and is needed to cover a seven-year, $7.5 million loan for federally mandated upgrades to the 911 system.
Clausi and Bridy previously voted to cut the salaries of row officers by 42 to 48 percent and increase their health care contributions, but a temporary court injunction has put the change on hold.
The tentative budget passed earlier this month was $72.7 million, but Bridy said the state reimbursements were not included in that budget, hence the lower approved budget Friday.
The new budget is $485,192 less than last year's budget.
Shoch said he voted against the final budget for the same reasons he refused to pass the original tentative budget.
He opposed the tentative spending plan because it contained 42 to 48 percent salary cuts for row officers, potential additional expenses for upgrades to the county 911 system and miscommunication and misleading information from his fellow commissioners.
McClintock said the county is on track to have between $300,000 and $400,000 in surplus by the end of the year.
In a related issue, the commissioners approved long-term debt service forgiven for 2013 on $5.1 million that was borrowed primarily for cash flow.
McClintock said previously if the debt service wasn't forgiven by the end of the year, it could have resulted in downgrading the county's bond rating from a B to a B-minus and affect interest rates on the county's past two borrowings.
In other business
The commissioners approved the appointment of Stephen Bridy and Donald Purcell to five-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2014, to the SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG) Joint Rail Authority (JRA).
Shoch opposed this because Frank Sawicki was not notified he would not be re-appointed after expressing interest to stay on the authority.