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Your County Property Tax Dollars
Posted 1-21-08
Last fall, the issue of county property taxes was a prominent
issue in the race for county commissioner. As a student of
politics and the election process, I am always fascinated by what
issues influence the outcome of elections. But as a county
commissioner who has served for 12 years, I feel some discussion
of the realities of county property taxes is in order.
I’ve always been curious as to how many people know what they
are paying in county taxes versus their municipal real estate
taxes and their school real estate taxes. If you are paying a
mortgage on your home, your tax bill is likely to be a part of
that payment, and when one of those taxes goes up you are paying
more. Often times it goes unnoticed as to which of the three
taxes actually increased. You are paying more and no one,
obviously, likes to pay more in taxes. That is why the decisions
we have made here over the years to adjust millage have been
done reluctantly and only as a last resort to ensure services
and the long-term stability of county government.
The annual millage for county taxes is 20.99 mills, with each
mill generating about $3.2 million. In 2001 when millage was
increased from 14.99 mills to 16.99 mills the decision was
unanimous, with not only Tom Ceraso and I voting for it, but
also former Republican Commissioner P. Scott Conner. We did so
because in 1999 my former colleagues twice did a forward
refinancing of our debt (with me voting against those decisions)
and our overall debt service payments were jumping up
considerably. The money from that tax increase went towards
those increased debt service payments.
In 2004 we faced another tough decision. Taxes had not been
increased for operational purposes in Westmoreland County since
1992, and we faced serious budgetary consequences. Again
unanimously, this time with former Republican Commissioner Phil
Light, we voted to increase the millage four mills to its
current level. We did not make such a decision with any joy, but
it was apparent to Democrat and Republican alike that a tough,
painful vote had to be made.
So how do these numbers translate into in actual dollars? The
average assessed home in Westmoreland County currently pays $418
per year in county property taxes. That amount is equal to $1.15
per day for your county government to operate. In 2001 the
average assessed home was spending roughly 82 cents per day to
support the operation of their county government. While I
recognize no one wants to pay more for anything, why is there
such resentment towards paying taxes versus paying, for
instance, utility bills? Electricity and natural gas are not
luxury items that we can do without. They are "public utilities"
supposedly regulated by the Commonwealth and its Public Utility
Commission.
One may say the utilities are essential to our comfort, and we
don’t need county government. If that were the case, the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would have to change a multitude of
laws making the services we provide not mandatory. The state
would have to eliminate services to senior citizens, at-risk
children and youth, people with mental health or mental
retardation needs, the operation of the courts and the many
offices that support the courts and where legal documents are
filed. Other mandated services include: operation of a
countywide 911 system, a county nursing home to care for the
indigent and, of course, a county jail. The only service we
provide that is not mandated is the operation of the county’s
parks. And I think most people recognize the value of our parks
as an amenity that many people enjoy for a relatively small
expenditure.
We do support outside entities, serving as the local sponsor
for the Westmoreland County Community College, the Westmoreland
Conservation District, the Federated Library System, the Airport
Authority and the Transit Authority. I believe these entities
are all of value, and in my 12 years as one of your
commissioners I’ve never heard from anyone objecting to our
support of those organizations.
In summation, I hope that there is a better understanding
that your county property taxes provide significant value and,
in relation to other bills we all must pay, are not overly high.
Political advertising can often present images that are
dramatic, but not necessarily accurate. We take seriously the
management of the county budget, and taxes are only raised as a
last resort. And in my time in office, they’ve been raised in a
bi-partisan manner because the reality of the situation has been
clear to each commissioner who cast a vote.
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