No tax increase planned in Greene County budget
WAYNESBURG – Greene County commissioners unanimously approved the county’s 2018 preliminary budget Thursday, a fiscal plan that keeps spending “fairly level” compared to the current year and is not expected to require an increase in taxes.
The preliminary budget, which will be adopted next month, is very similar in regard to expenditures to this year’s budget, county Chief Clerk Jeff Marshall said.
“Insurance costs are up, pension costs and salaries, but generally, it’s a pretty level budget,” he said.
The proposed general fund budget of $18.7 million is actually about $2.25 million less than that for the current year, but that is primarily a result of an accounting change, Marshall said.
In the past, Marshall said, the county included a projected number in the budget for that year’s Act 13 natural gas impact fee revenue, even though the amount is not known until July when disbursements for the program are announced.
Beginning in 2018, money the county receives for the impact fee for the year will be included in the next year’s budget, Marshall said. So impact fee money for 2018 will be included in the 2019 budget.
The county normally received between $2.5 and $3.5 million in impact fee money a year, he said.
The general fund budget lists revenue at $18,343,164 and expenditures at $18,726,612. The $383,448 shortfall will be covered with money from the county fund balance, which is currently about $3.1 million.
In regard to revenue, the county expects to see a decline in money collected from property taxes as preliminary assessment figures indicate a $36 million decline in total property value, primarily from reduced coal values.
The overall spending plan, which includes the state’s Liquid Fuels tax allocation, 911 fund, Community Development Block Grant money and human services funds, will decline from $31.8 million to $28.8 million, most of which again is attributed to the accounting change involving impact fee revenue.
The proposed county budget can be viewed on Greene County’s web page. Commissioners intend to adopt the spending plan at their Dec. 14 meeting.