Town center near mall among coming year's projects in Hermitage
Dec. 1—HERMITAGE — Hermitage residents will see their taxes remain steady in the proposed 2023 city budget.
The budget, along with state and federal money and private investment, will fund a wide range of community improvements and development in Mercer County's largest municipality.
The Hermitage commissioners recently voted unanimously to introduce the city's 2023 proposed budget. It calls for projected total expenditures and revenues of $14,771,571, an 8.4% increase over 2022's projected totals of $13,623,077.
Under the proposed budget, property taxes will remain at five mills. For a property assessed at $30,400, the city's average assessed value, the property owner would pay about $152 in property taxes.
This would mark the 32nd consecutive year without a property tax increase, Hinkson said during the commissioners meeting.
The city's earned income tax will also remain constant, at 1.75%. City residents pay an additional 0.5% to the school district as well as separately levied property taxes to Mercer County and to the school district.
While city officials expect real estate tax revenue will decrease ever so slightly from $1,316,000 in 2022 to $1,314,000 in 2023, wage tax revenue is expected to increase 8.9% from $7,300,000 in 2022 to $7,950,000 in 2023.
As workers' pay rises, wage tax revenue increases by itself without the city changing the rate, Assistant City Manager Gary Gulla said. He said the projected increase is in part from to the general wage increases seen throughout the Hermitage area.
"People working at jobs such as fast food establishments are making around $15 an hour, and that carries over to other kinds of businesses that are trying to compete," Gulla said.
Capital improvements
Some of the major capital expenditures for 2023 will include $2.159 million toward street paving and infrastructure improvements, $268,500 toward street department equipment including a new truck and excavator, and $204,500 toward police department purchases.
In terms of street improvements, the city will be carrying out Phase I of Block 7 of the city's Neighborhood Investment Program, or NIP. The program involves systematically repairing and improving some of the city's older neighborhoods.
This year's program will include milling off old pavement, street base repairs, installation of new pavement, stormwater infrastructure improvements and new street signs on South Crescent Drive between King Drive and East State Street, Fern Street between South Crescent Drive and Greenwood Avenue, and Greenwood Avenue between Fern Street and East State Street, the documents state.
This portion of the NIP will be funded with a combination of a bond issue and local services tax, Hermitage City Manager Gary Hinkson said.
City officials will also oversee a Capital Paving Program that will include milling old pavement, street base repairs, installation of new pavement and new street signs for the entire lengths of Lori Lane, Timber Lane and Lorenwood Drive.
The Capital Paving Program will be covered by a combination of American Rescue Plan Act funds and city funds, Gulla said.
Concord Road and Trace Street will receive new pavement and limited stormwater infrastructure improvements, which Gulla said will be covered by Community Development Block Grant funds.
Police department expenditures will include equipment purchases such as vehicles, ballistic shields, radar speed signs and body-worn cameras. The cameras will be paid for with a combination of city and grant funds, Hinkson said.
A new town center
One project that is already underway is the continuing effort to develop a mixed-use town center around the Shenango Valley Mall property, something the city lacks and was one of the main recommendations in the city's Hermitage 2030 Comprehensive Plan.
The Shenango Valley Mall, at East State Street at North Hermitage Road, was purchased earlier this year by Butterfli Holdings LLC, an affiliate of FLICORE LLC, a Pepper Pike, Ohio-based developer.
Hermitage officials have secured more than $5.5 million in grant funds toward the project, and Hinkson said the city has remained in contact with FLICORE about developing the area.
School access road
A related project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The access drive that connects the Hermitage School District's Artman and Delahunty schools to North Hermitage Road is being upgraded to city standards to become an official city street.
Its intersection with North Hermitage Road will eventually become a signalized crossroads leading to the vacant 24-acre field on the other side of North Hermitage Road, north of the mall. Officials hope to develop that land for businesses in the future.
Sewer line expansion
The Hermitage Municipal Authority will begin construction on a sanitary sewer expansion that will extend south on South Neshannock Road from East State Street to Miller Road, west on Virginia Road from South Neshannock Road to just east of South Darby Road, and west on Miller Road from South Neshannock Road to near South Darby Road.
The project will accept 90 new connections and will eliminate many failing on-lot septic systems and make several undeveloped parcels of land available for development, city documents state.
Kelly Road improvements
Hermitage and the borough of Sharpsville will also be cooperating on a project involving both sides of the recently-completed Kelly Road Bridge, which spans the Shenango River and connects the two municipalities.
The Hermitage side includes some residences, the Mahaney Recreation Area and the offices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Shenango Lake.
The project will involve base repair and new paving along Kelly Road funded with a $463,000 grant through the Mercer County Metropolitan Planning Organization's Surface Transportation Urban program, the documents state.
Sharpsville officials will likewise make improvements to East High Street, since the two municipalities jointly applied for the STU grant to improve the area.
Commerical development
Some major economic developments will be coming to Hermitage in 2023, including the new $35 million FedEx distribution center under construction along South Hermitage Road.
Although employment figures aren't available yet, Hinkson said he expects the distribution center will become an important part of the local economy once it opens, possibly by mid-2023.
"It's going to be a benefit to Hermitage and the whole region, really," Hinkson said.
Joy Cone will break ground next year on a 200,000-square-foot cookie plant. It adds to the hundreds of thousands of square feet of factories and warehouses the locally owned company has along and near Lamor Road.
City officials secured a $1.73 million state Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund grant for improvements to Lamor Road for better and safer access.
The city was also awarded a $1 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant to make on-site truck access and safety improvements
.
Recreation projects
The Hermitage Athletic Complex is getting a new dek hockey rink, which will be partially funded with a $231,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Finance Authority.
Unlike an ice hockey rink, a dek hockey rink features a holed, resin-material surface over a concrete pad that can be used for multiple sports. The rink came about after that city officials say was "significant" community interest.
Wheatland merging
into Hermitage
Another major undertaking in 2023 will be preparing for the merger of Wheatland into Hermitage, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2024. Voters in both communities approved the merger by a 2-1 margin in last month.
Although municipal officials will be working toward the merger throughout 2023, such as evaluating the structural status of the borough's buildings and updating the city's zoning maps, Hinkson said the preparatory work won't be a factor in the 2023 budget.
"When we get to 2024, then there will be some things that will affect the budget, but not in 2023," Hinkson said.
A public hearing for the proposed 2023 budget and final vote for approval will be Dec. 14 in the municipal building, 800 N. Hermitage Road. In the meantime, a copy of the 2023 budget is available at the municipal building for public review.
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