By Debbie Wachter Morris
When the commissioners unveil the 2010 Lawrence County budget, it will include a tax increase.
That could mean anywhere from an additional half to a whole mill, according to James Gagliano, county administrator.
The commissioners will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday when they plan to introduce a bare-bones spending plan that includes departmental cuts and no emergency contingency fund.
It does, however, include 3 percent wage increases for union and non-union management employees. Elected officials will not get raises.
The county’s current millage is 5.313.
An increase of one mill to a homeowner whose house is worth $100,000 would mean an additional $100 per year.
A half-mill is a 9.4 percent increase, and a whole mill increase would be 18.8 percent.
The county’s total assessed value is $3,439,051,400. Based on that figure, one mill generates $3.43 million.
The county’s property taxes have not been increased in the past five years.
The commissioners discussed last-minute additions and subtractions to the budget during a work session Wednesday afternoon, but more changes could be made before Thursday, Gagliano said.
He explained that the proposed general fund budget total as of Tuesday was 0.4 percent less than the 2009 budget. Preliminary figures showed the general fund total at $26,233,079.
Commissioner Chairman Steve Craig pointed out that this year, the county had a reserve account of $1.9 million, from which it was able to draw for expenses and payroll when funds became tight at the end of the year.
Gagliano pointed out that there are many rising costs, including that of the county’s health care insurance, which will increase by 13 percent next year. Workers’ compensation costs are increasing by 30 percent, he said.
He pointed out that the county’s required contribution to its retirement fund is $1.9 million next year.
That has more than tripled since 2008, when the contribution was $600,000, Craig said.
(Please see Thursday’s and Friday’s New Castle News for more details about the county’s proposed spending plan for next year and how it will affect Lawrence County taxpayers.)
