CLEARFIELD – On Tuesday, the Clearfield County Commissioners unanimously approved a balanced final budget without a tax increase for the upcoming year.
The general fund budget anticipates revenues and expenditures totaling $25,171,437.08, while the overall budget anticipates revenues and expenditures totaling $44,046,625.
One of the most significant budget changes over the current year is the annual debt service payment of $613,000 for the $9 million renovation project at the Clearfield County Jail.
“That item is almost all the annual payment,” Commissioner Dave Glass said previously, noting the county is using one million in American Rescue Act Funds, and then borrowing $8 million to be repaid over 20 years.
Glass said Tuesday that the debt service figure went up by roughly $20,000 for some county vehicle leases. Those, he said, weren’t received in time for inclusion in the preliminary budget and only a few minor changes were made since November.
Also, the commissioners authorized Solicitor Heather Bozovich to initiate the process of adjusting the county’s pre-determined ratio for future board consideration.
The pre-determined ratio means the ratio of assessed value to market value established and uniformly applied in determining assessed value in any year.
Bozovich said the county’s ratio has been set at 25 percent since 1989, but under state law, it can be set up to 100 percent, which is her recommendation to the commissioners.
Under her proposal, county taxing entities would also have to reduce their millage rates, which in turn would create a “net-zero” effect and not result in any type of tax increase.
“… This change may be coming,” Bozovich said, “but it will not have any impact on taxes. Only taxing authorities can increase taxes by increasing their millage.”
She said the county will prepare an ordinance for consideration in early spring, and if approved, changes to the county’s pre-determined ratio would take effect in 2023.