Clarion County commissioners on Wednesday adopted a “flat” preliminary budget for 2021.
The spending plan doesn’t call for a tax hike, and the millage rate will remain at 20.5 next year. There hasn’t been a real estate tax hike in the county since 2012.
One mill equals $448,000.
A pass through grant is usually awarded by the state to the county, but the funds pass through the county to a specific project.
The budget does contain four pass through grants – $100,000 for the Clarion YMCA, $700,000 for the multimodal project, $1.5 million for the Brady Tunnel rails-to-trails project and $1 million for Clarion Healthcare.
Logue noted that expenses were down in travel and training due to COVID-19 restrictions.
She said the revenue projected for 2021 is “relatively flat” and the budget forecasts a $1,500 increase in tax revenue.
Logue said the major increases to the budget are $94,278 for employee health insurance, an increase of about six percent; $150,000 in employee raises, $79,037 for Pictometry for mapping, and the county’s 40 percent match for the voting machine lease.
Commissioner Ted Tharan praised Logue and Commissioner Ed Heasley for their work preparing the budget.
The budget has a contingency reserve of $93,416 and is available online for review.
The final budget will be adopted at the commissioners’ Dec. 22 meeting.
Buildings to remain closed
In other business Wednesday, the commissioners said county buildings will remain closed to the public at least until the end of the year. Tharan said the move is in compliance with Gov. Tom Wolf’s recent COVID-19 restrictions.
Commissioner Wayne Brosius said anyone who needs to enter a county building should call ahead and make an appointment. The phone numbers for the various departments are listed on the county’s web page.
The county buildings were closed in March due to concerns over the spread of the virus. They were closed again Nov. 9.
Commissioners unanimously approved a contract with Centre Communications to supply digital transmitters at all seven of the county’s tower sites. The cost is $623,454.80.
The commissioners sent an acknowledgment to Children and Youth Services for the recent state audit. The inspection by the Department of Human Services found no areas of regulatory non-compliance.
“Your hard work and dedication positively impact and transform lives and we can’t thank you enough for tackling this challenging work,” the letter from the commissioners said.
The commissioners also extended their appreciation to part time election workers Catherine Allgeier, Thomas McCauliffe, Lori Norris, Lorraine Schoepke, Patricia Thompson and Cejae Wyman.
“They were a great help during the general election,” Heasley said.