Connellsville City Council adopts 2017 budget with no tax increase
CONNELLSVILLE 鈥� City Council adopted a 2017 budget and tax ordinance that maintains the current real estate tax rate.
Council members voted unanimously in favor of the budget, which includes revenue of $2.99 million and expenses of $2.98 million, and the ordinance, which keeps the tax rate at 8.25 mills, on Tuesday.
General fund income includes $1.2 million from property taxes, $525,000 from earned income taxes and $200,000 from mercantile and business privilege taxes. Total tax revenue is projected at $2.2 million.
Expenses are topped by the police department. The police budget of $1.4 million includes $1.3 million in wages and $110,000 in other expenses.
In addition to the budget, council addressed several other financial matters.
Paying off the $210,000 remaining balance of this year蘑菇视频 $350,000 tax anticipation loan from Somerset Bank and Trust was approved.
Council then approved a $300,000 tax anticipation loan with a 1.49 percent interest rate from PNC Bank for next year.
The loan would be used to cover unexpected expenses until the city begins receiving tax revenue in March, Mayor Greg Lincoln said.
Councilman Ethan Keedy, director of accounts and finances, said the city蘑菇视频 finances continue to improve and a tax anticipation loan might not be needed in the future.
Councilman Tom Karpiak said the loan is a tool. If the city had a fund balance of $500,000 to $1 million, it would mean taxes are too high, he said.
Council approved a 12-month contract for $225 a month with Scarry & Associates of Connellsville to administer the payroll.
Keedy said Paychex Inc. had been the payroll contractor for many years, but Scarry offered a less expensive service. Paychex charged the city $10,000 and switching to Scarry will save the city $7,300, he said.
Lincoln appointed Marilyn Weaver as tax collector and treasurer to replace Bruce Jaynes, whose resignation takes effect on Dec. 31.
Weaver is chairwoman of the Connellsville Redevelopment Authority and executive director of the Wesley Church Health Center in Connellsville.
Two people, including Weaver, applied for the position and another application was submitted too late to be considered, Lincoln said.
Several council members said they were happy with Weaver蘑菇视频 appointment, which expires Dec. 31, 2017.
Lincoln encouraged her to enter the spring primary to run for a full term.
Weaver said she doesn鈥檛 want to run in the election but would think about it.
A salary ordinance that sets the salaries of all city employees for next year was approved.
Council agreed to apply to the state for a $750,000 competitive Community Development Block Grant to replace the York Avenue bridge.
If the grant is approved, the city would use $204,000 from the 2016 CDBG as the required match for the project.
The bridge is restricted to one lane of traffic due to structural problems.
Turning to police business, Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower told council that 18 new Smith and Wesson handguns with laser sights will be given to the police department to replace the 15-year-old guns the officers use now.
The $10,000 used to buy the guns came from drug arrests conducted by the Fayette County Bureau of Investigation, which Bower oversees.
鈥淭his money is taken off of drug dealers and forfeited,鈥� Bower said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l gracefully accept,鈥� Lincoln said.
Bower said new guns will be given to the Brownsville Police Department, bullet proof vests were given to some police and assistance will be given to the Masontown Police Department.
He commended the work of the bureau, which consists of three or four full-time county detectives and 30 officers from local police departments who serve as part-time detectives for the county.
Police Chief William Hammerle said officers will have to be certified to use the guns before they carry them on duty. The certifications will be completed soon, he said.
Council approved a five-year lease with Taser International for four tasers for the police department for $788 a year.
Hammerle said the tasers in use now are seven or eight years old, but they are designed to last five years. The new tasers will be delivered in January, he said.
The contract includes replacement of broken tasers, he said.
Lincoln said there have been instances when some of the existing tasers have failed to work.
In unrelated business, Lincoln said 24 city residents whose homes were damaged in the Aug. 28 flood submitted applications for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency蘑菇视频 home buyout program.
He said 11 applications were submitted by homeowners in Bullskin Township.