Borough to enjoy another year without tax hike

October 13, 1999|By DON AINES

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - For the 11th straight year there will be no increase in real estate taxes for Chambersburg property owners, according to the 2000 budget recommendation presented to the borough council Wednesday by Borough Manager Eric Oyer.

Once again, however, the borough will have to dip into its budgetary reserve to balance the general fund. Next year he said it will take $548,000 from reserves to balance the $6.3 million general fund. That would leave a budgetary reserve of $951,000.

The largest portion of the general fund, $2,245,375, or 35.5 percent, is for the police department, a decrease of 0.7 percent from this year because of lower pension contributions by the borough, Oyer said.

The fire and ambulance services are next with a budget of $1,631,450. That's an increase of 9.4 percent, in large part because the borough's 1999 estimate of payroll was too low, Oyer said.

"We must aniticipate either a large tax increase or significant reductions in services" in the future, unless the real estate tax base increases, Oyer said. Through September he said construction in the borough was down 16 percent from the same period in 1998.

The tax rate is 30.5 mills. One mill represents $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value on a property.

The budget includes a 3 percent wage increase for borough employees, but Oyer warned that figure could be affected by a police arbitration award or a pending contract with other unionized borough workers.

Total expenditures for 2000 will be about $38 million, which icludes the cost of running the gas, electric, water and sewer departments. Those are funded by user fees and Oyer noted Chambersburg is the only municipality in the state that owns and runs four utilities.

"A water rate increase is not out of the question in 2000," Oyer said. That's because the borough is planning the construction of new water mains and a water storage tank.

The overall budget is down about 6 percent from this year, in large part because most of the work has been completed on an $18.5 million sewage treatment plant, according to Oyer.

The council will vote on the preliminary budget on Wednesday, Nov. 3, with final approval set for Wednesday, Dec. 15.

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