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BELLEFONTE -- The Centre County Commissioners have approved the tentative 2024 county budget in the amount of $141,727,824, and have authorized advertisement for public inspection.
Of the $141,727,824, the operating budget will be $113,137,810 -- an increase of 6 percent from the 2023 budget -- and $28,590,014 is for capital reserve.
Richard Killian, Budget and Finance Director for Centre County, presented the tentative budget for the commissioners.
According to Killian's presentation, there will be no increase in county real estate taxes for the 14th consecutive year -- the millage of 7.84 mills has remained unchanged.
"Growth in assessed values compared to the same period last year (is) 1.66 percent, a little bit higher than we've seen recently -- a welcome news. A ten year average value has been about 1.28 percent and it's been hovering between that and 1.4 percent for quite some time," said Killian.
The proposed budget reflects a 1.6 percent increase in real estate tax revenue.
"(That's) not tax rate, that's just the growth in Centre County real estate continuing on at a slow pace, and it's the new properties or the upgrades to current properties that results in that small increase," explained Commissioner Mark Higgins.
The budget includes revenues at a total of $112,198,712 -- a 5.1 percent increase over the 2023 budget.
Killian's presentation included a chart of the revenues, splitting it up by showing how much of that total came from grants and payments in lieu of taxes, real estate taxes (general), departmental earnings, real estate taxes (debt) and internal charges and services.
The overwhelming majority is from grants (federal and state) and payments in lieu of taxes, totalling $56,977,498.
It also provided a breakdown of the operating budget by major expenditures, and compared it to the 2023 budget. This list included items such as salaries and employee benefits, contracted services, utilities and more.
"This proposed budget combines the use of General Fund reserves and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to maintain current funding levels for the provision of county services. This still allows us to maintain 11 percent. 11 percent of our expenditures are in reserve and that's within best practices," said Killian.
There will be a 20-day public comment period before the final adoption of this budget.
The final adoption of the 2024 County Budget is scheduled for Dec. 5, 2023.
"This represents really a lot of work over the last few months to ensure that our budget is lining up with our priorities, our mandates in terms of what we're required to do and what the community's expectations are for us as a county in terms of the level of service we provide," said Commissioner Amber Concepcion.
Commissioner Steve Dershem reminded the board the ARPA funds won't last forever.
"At some point we're going to have to tighten up our belt and make sure that we can function moving forward without those subsidies. I hope that the Centre Crest project goes without a hitch, and we have no unexpected issues there. It'll be interesting to see how 2024 treats us in the end, hopefully we don't see any nation-wide economic declines or anything that challenges us. I look forward to seeing how that works out," said Dershem.
In other news:
-- The Bellefonte Hometown Hero Program has presented donations to local charities including Rising Hope Therapeutic Riding Center, Logan Fire Company No. 1, Undine Fire Company No. 2, Bellefonte Union Cemetery Association and Bellefonte EMS. Representatives were in attendance for each charity. The program will be doing another round of donations in 2024.
-- The commissioners are requesting a Statewide Local Share Assessment grant of $999,998 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to be used for necessary renovations for Kepler Pool.
-- The commissioners have approved a Liquid Fuels check to Rush Township in the amount of $50,000 for the reconstruction of McCord Road, Casanova Road, Chestnut street and Casanova Spur for road improvements.