Commissioners OK 5.7 Percent Property Tax Increase

The following release was distributed by the county:

During a two-hour meeting that was the final Board of Bucks County Commissioners public business session of 2011, Commissioner Chairman Charles H. Martin and Commissioner Robert G. Loughery voted to approve a $461.67 million county operating budget for 2012. For the first time since 2006, the residents of Bucks County will pay a higher property tax millage rate, an increase of 5.7 percent (21.942 mills to 23.200 mills) or an average of $45 for the owner of a home valued at the county average assessment of $35,800. For the fourth consecutive year, Commissioner Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW voted against budget passage.

“I am not pleased philosophically at having a tax increase,” Vice Chairman Loughery told a large crowd inside the 120-seat auditorium at the Bensalem Township-based Bucks County Visitors Center. “I am satisfied with the process we went through to get to this, given the terms and conditions of contracts and mandates that tie our hands. We’ve done this systematically.”

Chairman Martin also voted to pass the budget, which features a 0.4 percent budget-to-budget decrease from the 2011 operating figure of $463.46 million.

Since the preliminary budget was released to the public on November 23, Director of Finance and Administration David Boscola worked with Chief Operating Officer Brian Hessenthaler and county division leaders and department heads, court officials and row officers to pare the gap between revenues and expenditures from $24 million to $11.9 million. “We conducted an in-depth analysis of (county employee) vacancy patterns, and we are going to limit hiring to essential mandated personnel,” Mr. Boscola stated. Commissioner Loughery projected that the current county workforce of more than 2,600 likely will be closer to 2,400 by 2013. The tax increase will produce $10 million in revenue. In addition, the Finance Department will monitor county personnel tables monthly during the upcoming year to see if benchmarks are being reached.

In voting against approval of the budget, which includes a $1.875 million draw down from the county general (or “rainy day”) fund, Commissioner Marseglia voiced her objection by commenting, “We need to have program-based budgeting, not just numbers. We need to really evaluate the programs we have. We still have cuts we could make.”

Mr. Hessenthaler thanked the Finance Department for its diligence throughout the four-month budget process, adding, “There are different ways to attack the budget, and we looked at everything. Most of our expenditures involve the workforce, and you have to hunt ducks where ducks are. Everything is still on the table.” Mr. Hessenthaler also noted: “In my time here, I have never seen a budget like this. The easy part is done – now comes the hard part.”

Again this year, Human Services comprises the largest portion of the budget, or $212.4 million, an increase of 0.3 percent. Courts expenditures will comprise $62.5 million, a decrease of 2.9 percent. The Department of Corrections budget is $36.7 million, a decrease of 1.3 percent. For a full summary of the county’s operating funds, please visit the home page of www.BucksCounty.org. A detailed budget will be uploaded to the website later this month.

The budget discussion is available via audio on www.BucksCounty.org. The projected ending general (or “rainy day”) fund balance for 2012 is $48.4 million – above the 10 percent threshold the Finance Department has established and which remains a prime contributor to the county Aaa bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service.

“There are many sacrifices that are being made in this budget,” Commissioner Loughery stated. “Now we have to manage it.”