Centre County adopts tentative 2023 budget that reflects salary study, no tax increase
The Centre County Commissioners adopted the proposed 2023 budget Tuesday with no tax increase for the 13th consecutive year.
The tentative county budget was presented in the amount of $106,869,156, which includes $142,431 for capital reserve. The final adoption of the budget is scheduled for the board’s 10 a.m. Dec. 27 meeting. In the meantime, the commissioners encourage the public to view the tentative budget, either online at centrecountypa.gov/Budget or in the commissioners office at the Willowbank Building, 420 Holmes St., Bellefonte.
Corey Troutman, of Susquehanna Accounting & Consulting Solutions, gave the board an overview of the budget during their meeting Tuesday morning. With no increase in the county’s real estate taxes, the total millage will remain at 7.84 mills.
Commissioner Michael Pipe praised the teamwork during the budget process, saying they hashed through department budgets more than once to find efficiencies and to recognize certain investments that needed to be made.
The tentative budget accounts for $106,726,725 in revenue, Troutman said, and the total expenditures match the revenue.
The largest items of increase in the tentative budget are the salary levels for employees, Troutman said, which is due to the salary and compensation study the county recently completed. Salary step movement, scale adjustments and union contracts are also anticipated in 2023. Total compensation expenditures total an 8.7% increase over the 2022 budget, he said.
Commissioner Steve Dershem said this was a “tough” budget due to some personnel changes and there were many difficult decisions the board had to make throughout the process. But the compensation adjustments from the salary study will create a workplace that is more equitable and will ultimately lead to serving the county better, he said.
“...Moving past the salary study, which really was the big bump in expenses in this budget, I think we are moving toward a much more fair and equitable workplace. I think we’re now hiring and maintaining people at a fair level,” Dershem said, “I know this has been a conversation for several decades. And you know, getting that done this year, although it was, again, that was a tough process as well, and it layers into the budget but ultimately I think we’re going to have a better product serving the citizens of Centre County.”
The tentative 2023 budget does use some American Rescue Plan Act funds to maintain current funding levels, as it did in 2022, Troutman said.
Commissioner Mark Higgins said that while the budgets for 2019, 2020 and 2021 all contained anticipated budget deficits of roughly $2 million, once the books were closed, the county actually ended with a small surplus in those budget years. Pipe echoed that and said the need for ARPA funds in the budget may lessen throughout 2023.
Higgins said the preliminary budget and another year without a tax increase is because of the board saying “no” often.
“In Centre County we budget conservatively. If a department hopes to receive a grant but they’re not entirely sure, that grant is not in our budget. We budget that every single funded position is being filled for the entire year and … but obviously that doesn’t happen. So throughout the year, our administrators and department heads work hard to reduce their budgeted expenditures, and in many cases, they are successful,” Higgins said.
Tentative 2023 budget overview
The total operating budget is $106,726,725. The total budget, with $142,431 in capital reserve, is $106,869,156.
General government (administrative) revenues are $7,033,582 and expenses are $13,710,193
General government (judicial) revenues are $3,816,851 and expenses are $11,658,338
Public safety (corrections) revenues are $4,097,404 and expenses are $15,097,700
Public safety (protection and inspection) revenues are $4,596,799 and expenses are $5,020,467
Public works expenses and revenues are $100,000
Social/health services (human services) revenues are $34,033,036 and expenses are $36,989,662
Conservation and development revenues are $804,860 and expenses are $1,952,754
Miscellaneous revenues are $2,161,679 and expenses are $5,857,290
Other funds revenues are $16,760,512 and expenses are $6,911,631
Debt service expenses are $5,303,690
Taxes revenues are $33,322,002 and expenses are $4,125,000.
