The Centre County board of commissioners passed a 2015 tentative county budget at its meeting on Nov. 18.
Next year’s current budget comes in at about $80.9 million. This is the sixth consecutive year that the county has not had to increase property taxes. The budget is also balanced, meaning revenues and expenditures are equal.
The county is able to keep a balanced budget, in spite of growing costs in areas like health insurance and correctional facilities, because department heads have been able to watch spending and seek grants, according to Denise Elbell, director of financial management.
In next year’s budget, $7.5 million will be put into capital reserve and can be spent as needed to improve county buildings and infrastructure. Some of this money will be used to fund the second phase of the Temple Court project, which will include interior renovations to Temple Court and the Courthouse Annex and begin early next year. That project is currently out to bid.
“I think it’s good for us to keep maintaining a capital reserve moving forward to make sure our county facilities are kept up to date and don’t fall behind,” says commissioner Chris Exarchos. Another project the county is looking to undertake is renovating the Courthouse, he says.
The goal, according to Elbell and commissioner Steve Dershem, is to have money in the capital reserve to carry over to 2016 and support future projects.
The total budget will increase about $8 million from 2014. Due to economic downturn, the county hasn’t seen a growth of more than 1 percent in real estate tax since 2009.
“We’re not experiencing the type of growth that we normally have,” Elbell says. “We’re not seeing a lot of development. Hopefully that will change in the future.” This year’s assessment evaluation increase was 1.23 percent in which the county will bring in about $26.3 million.
The extraction fee that Gov.-elect Tom Wolf has promised to impose on oil drilling companies throughout the state will not affect the impact fee that counties currently collect through Act 13, says commissioner Michael Pipe. The county expects to collect about $400,000 through the impact fee in 2015.
Since oil drilling in the county has decreased significantly in recent years the commissioners don’t expect that to be a source of revenue in the future.
Final adoption of the 2015 county budget is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 16.
The commissioners also approved the renewal of two contracts for the county’s Drug and Alcohol Department.
The contracts are between the county and Bellefonte Area School District and State College Borough to promote both organizations Communities That Care programs. The contracts will also support the activities of the Centre County Prevention Coalition. Each contract is federally funded and worth $49,936.
“The Communities That Care project supports a number of initiatives throughout the county,” says Catherine Arbogast, assistant administrator for the Drug and Alcohol Department. The Pennsylvania Youth Survey, which is used to collect data from middle school and high school students in the county school districts about substance use, is funded through the project, Arbogast says.
“This data not only looks at patterns of substance use by our young people, but also looks at conditions within the community that puts kids at risk and those conditions within a community that protect kids,” she says. “We’re actually able to track trends and look at how things have changed over the course of that time period.”
Based on data collected, Arbogast says, usage of tobacco and alcohol among youth is decreasing. There is an increase, however, in marijuana use and questions students have about the drug.
Data also suggests that kids are beginning to experiment and use at older ages, have a lower perception of the risk of substance abuse, and aren’t getting a clear picture about drug usage from the adults in their lives, she adds.
“Our campaigns are focusing more on educating parents and adults in the community to have those conversations,” Arbogast says.
According to Arbogast, the county is in the 10th and final year of eligibility for these grants and will be seeking other grants to continue funding these projects and initiatives.
POPULAR STORIES:
Holiday Season, New Location Bring Challenges to Food Bank
A University With a Culture Problem
Annual Turkey Bowl Draws Former State College Athletes Home to Help Community
Senior Citizen Transported to Hospital After Missing Person Search
Elementary Students Give Deployed Troops ‘Christmas Away From Home’
For Penn State Fans, It Ain’t Been Easy Being Blue The Past 15 Years
Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions Sneak By USC 63-61
Penn State Football: Big Ten TD Tally is Offense 8, Defense 1
Little Lions Defense Dominates McDowell in 27-6 Playoff Win
Penn State Hockey: Nittany Lions Thumped 8-1 By Michigan Split Weekend Series
Penn State Football: Handing Out The Grades Following Penn State’s Loss To Illinois
