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EBENSBURG -- Cambria County commissioners are scheduled this morning to post online the 2024 tentative budget, which proposes no tax increase for the eighth consecutive year.
Since real estate taxes won't be raised, the county's millage rate will remain at 30.5 mills.
County Controller Ed Cernic said the commissioners are able to avoid a tax increase through managing monies in the reserve fund balance, which currently has between $10 million and $12 million, and monies the county receives from the federal government.
He said commissioners are "holding the line on taxes" -- even though the cost of services continues to rise.
"We're able to keep that (reserve fund) money in investments so that we can move forward," he said. "We're also holding the line on budgets and costs. We're not spending money unwisely."
The general fund budget is set at $67,739,703 for 2024, and the total budget for all funds is $211,196,258.
According to Cernic, the prison's budget has increased $2 million from last year, and the department of emergency services will receive about $1 million to subsidize its expenses.
He said the county's contribution to Camtran, which comes out of the general fund, will be $894,000 next year while the contribution to the War Memorial Authority remains the same at $182,000.
Line items can be cut before the commissioners formally vote Dec. 21 to adopt next year's budget.
"I think the commissioners have a really good budget," Cernic said. "They, along with our office, have done a lot of work on this budget. I know we're in good financial shape for next year, even though we had some unexpected expenses this year."
Because this is the final budget of the Chernisky/Smith administration, President Commissioner Tom Chernisky said he's proud of the work they have done.
"Annual expenses are increasing due to inflation, wages and health insurance," he said. "But, with careful oversight, Cambria County will not have to raise taxes."
He said the administration has cut taxes four times in the last eight years, saving taxpayers close to $5 million per year.
In addition, he said S&P Global Ratings raised Cambria County's bond rating by two notches in February 2022.
"It was the first time in more than 30 years that Cambria County received an 'A' rating," Chernisky said. "Our bonds were junk status at the beginning of 2016. Today, Cambria County has investment-grade bonds."
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.