BELLEFONTE – The Centre County Board of Commissioners discussed the 2017-18 proposed state budget at its May 9 meeting. The commissioners also reported out on the latest possible cuts in state funding using House Bill 218, the House of Representative’s proposed budget for 2017-2018 passed April 4, as a model.
Commissioner Michael Pipe said that while it was not time to panic yet about less funding for services, he said identifying how the county’s coffers would be affected by possible cuts was a good starting point for dialogue with state representatives and senators.
Commissioner Steve Dershem commented there was still a long way to go in the three-way debate between the House, Senate and Gov. Tom Wolf’s office.
The state budget deadline is technically Friday, June 30, but legislators and governors can enter a standoff, creating a months-long budget impasse that can leave schools, municipalities and state departments guessing at anticipated funding.
According to numbers compiled by county staff and analysis from the County Commissioners Association of Centre County, the county could stand to see 100 percent state cuts in funding in the amounts of:
■ $114,046 to juvenile probation
■ $125,000 to adult probation
■ $142,029 to intermediate punishment programs
■ $12,552 to senior judge reimbursement
■ $75,000 to court interpreter county grants
Commissioner Mark Higgins said the first three programs on the list help save taxpayer dollars in the long run by keeping people from being imprisoned.
“So it seems to me that this is very pennywise and pound foolish that the state is cutting areas that return $7 to the taxpayers for every dollar spent,” he said, referring to probation and intermediate punishment services.
Partial, 15 percent cuts from HB 218 would amount to:
■ $28,000 to county court reimbursement
■ $3,000 to juror cost reimbursement
■ $13,000 to the Human Services Development Fund
■ $53,000 to Homeless Assistance
■ $100,000 to Mental Health Services
The commissioners could vote as early as next week on a resolution urging the legislature to reconsider such cuts.
Higgins said the $5 registration fee would be especially needed if HB 218 were to become law, since Pennsylvania Emergency Management’s promise of a local match to federal funds to fix Purdue Mountain Road, which was damaged by flooding, would disappear under the House’s proposed budget.
In other news, the commissioners approved the publication of a request for bids for the Emergency Watershed Protection flood work that will remove debris and stabilize streams, due to the Bald Eagle Valley flood that occurred in October.
