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Hollidaysburg approves preliminary budget

Current figures show deficit, but numbers not final

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Budget season is underway in Hollidaysburg Borough, where council members voted Thursday to approve preliminary numbers.

However, the approval of the 2019 preliminary budget does not make those number final, Borough Manager James Gehret said.

“This is kind of to just get it in front of council,” he said, explaining final budgets typically are adopted in December.

In his office Friday, Gehret revealed that current figures for 2019 predict revenue at $3,023,000 and expenditures at $3,051,324.

Those numbers would mean a deficit of $28,324.

But Gehret said he believes the budget will be close to balanced by the time that it is adopted.

“By the time we go back to council, this will be a little more filled out,” he said.

No large, one-time expenses are planned for 2019, Gehret said, adding that health care and retirement costs will continue to drive expenses.

A real estate tax increase is not expected for 2019, he said

Currently, municipal taxes are 3.1 mills, meaning property owners must pay $310 for every $100,000 in assessed property value.

In 2017, the real estate tax rate was raised from 2.897 mills to 3.1 mills.

Then, the average Hollidaysburg property was valued at $148,000, meaning the increase would cost taxpayers about $30 more annually.

The increase was meant to raise tax revenue by 7 percent, a number most council members felt was necessary because of a prior countywide property tax reassessment.

Property owners unhappy with their reassessed values were able to appeal, often receiving lower values at the end of the appeal process.

That, in turn, lowered the borough’s tax base, also decreasing tax revenue, Gehret said.

“We have seen about a

$7 or $8 million drop in assessed value,” Gehret said.

Taxes were not increased in the 2018 budget.

Council members voted unanimously to accept

the preliminary budget Thursday.

Gehret said they are expected to vote on tentative approval of a final budget next month.

In December, the final budget will then be presented for adoption, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.

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