Amid a deepening global recession, the financial belt is tightening at the state capitol, where tax revenues have severely fallen, and the trickle down effect is making its way into county governments - with nearly everyone saying we need more money or we may have to raise taxes or cut services.
The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, a county government group, issued a statement this week asking the state government to “stop forcing local property owners to ‘bail out’ the state by passing costs down to the local level.”
“County governments are facing a fiscal crisis every bit as severe as the state’s, and in fact decisions made by our state leaders have compounded the problems we face locally,” said the association’s president Dave Coder, who is also a Greene County commissioner.
It is too early to tell in Wayne County what next year’s budget - and the property tax and public services decisions that come with it - will foretell.
“We’re in the final stages now,” said John Haggarty, business manager with the county commissioner’s office.
Haggarty said he is “not sure what the bottom line is going to be” until the county budget is completely finalized.
The public will be able to inspect the budget on December 9. It must be adopted by Dec. 30.
Lackawanna County’s $86.1 million tentative 2009 budget has no property tax increases, but it has deep job cuts, according to the Times-Tribune newspaper. The commissioners are dealing with a $12.9 million budget shortfall in 2009.
Luzerne County’s 2009 budget, which was approved Wednesday, will cut more than than 100 jobs, according to the Times-Leader newspaper.
In Harrisburg, the state government is expecting a 2009 budget deficit of at least $1 billion, or up to $3 billion, according to published reports.
One culprit is a severe drop in personal income tax collections this year.
Gov. Ed Rendell has asked for more than $311 million in state program cuts to mitigate the large state deficit, according to the Associated Press.
Coder said one budget cut already in place - that detrimentally impacted counties - was the state’s decision this year to pull funding for full-time district attorney salaries.
The state previously reimbursed counties 65 percent of that salary.
“This omission is ... making development of our 2009 budgets needlessly difficult,” he noted.
He also cited under-funding of human service programs, which are mandated by federal and state law.
“The state has touted its budget cuts as a responsible step to avert a large state fiscal crisis, but behind those cuts are real programs that serve Pennsylvania’s people in need,” he said.
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Amid a deepening global recession, the financial belt is tightening at the state capitol, where tax revenues have severely fallen, and the trickle down effect is making its way into county governments - with nearly everyone saying we need more money or we may have to raise taxes or cut services.
The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, a county government group, issued a statement this week asking the state government to “stop forcing local property owners to ‘bail out’ the state by passing costs down to the local level.”
“County governments are facing a fiscal crisis every bit as severe as the state’s, and in fact decisions made by our state leaders have compounded the problems we face locally,” said the association’s president Dave Coder, who is also a Greene County commissioner.
It is too early to tell in Wayne County what next year’s budget - and the property tax and public services decisions that come with it - will foretell.
“We’re in the final stages now,” said John Haggarty, business manager with the county commissioner’s office.
Haggarty said he is “not sure what the bottom line is going to be” until the county budget is completely finalized.
The public will be able to inspect the budget on December 9. It must be adopted by Dec. 30.
Lackawanna County’s $86.1 million tentative 2009 budget has no property tax increases, but it has deep job cuts, according to the Times-Tribune newspaper. The commissioners are dealing with a $12.9 million budget shortfall in 2009.
Luzerne County’s 2009 budget, which was approved Wednesday, will cut more than than 100 jobs, according to the Times-Leader newspaper.
In Harrisburg, the state government is expecting a 2009 budget deficit of at least $1 billion, or up to $3 billion, according to published reports.
One culprit is a severe drop in personal income tax collections this year.
Gov. Ed Rendell has asked for more than $311 million in state program cuts to mitigate the large state deficit, according to the Associated Press.
Coder said one budget cut already in place - that detrimentally impacted counties - was the state’s decision this year to pull funding for full-time district attorney salaries.
The state previously reimbursed counties 65 percent of that salary.
“This omission is ... making development of our 2009 budgets needlessly difficult,” he noted.
He also cited under-funding of human service programs, which are mandated by federal and state law.
“The state has touted its budget cuts as a responsible step to avert a large state fiscal crisis, but behind those cuts are real programs that serve Pennsylvania’s people in need,” he said.
