Lancaster County Board of Commissioners last week unanimously approved its $288.4 million budget that includes no tax increase for the 10th year in a row and no layoffs of county employees.
Pat Mulligan, the county’s budget director, said at the Dec. 21 commissioners’ meeting that the final budget numbers did not change since the document was first made public late last month. Mulligan said the general fund includes $178.4 million in expenditures, which leads to a balanced budget but almost $10 million more in spending than the 2022 budget from inflation, rising salaries and health care costs.
General fund revenues are to exceed expenditures by around $228,000, Mulligan said, and the general fund balance should be $61.6 million at the end of 2023.
The county property tax rate remains at 2.911 mills, with one mill representing one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value. The proposed budget anticipates more than $125 million in revenue from county property taxes.
“It’s a difficult budget year, but this is a really good budget to move forward next year,” said Commissioner Ray D’Agostino.
An increase in interest earnings from federal funds awarded to the county under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act are expected to earn around $6.8 million in interest in 2023, compared to $110,000 from interest in 2022, which helped in balancing the budget.
The county payroll is increasing by $5.3 million from wage increases approved for both union and non-union workers. Earlier this year, county officials agreed to raise the minimum wage for county workers to $15 per hour and increase salaries for non-union employees found to be making less than their peers in a study.
Health insurance rates for county employees will jump by nearly 39% next year, going up $3.2 million.
Commissioner Josh Parsons said there has been “a lot of discussion” over the past several weeks regarding the budget, but he said he has only received “positive feedback” from county residents. Parsons said the county continues to strive for “responsible budgets” while still taking care of infrastructure responsibilities, moving forward with the replacement of the Lancaster County Prison, funding public safety measures and increasing its agricultural preservation efforts.
“We’re doing all those things, and at the same time we have not raised taxes in a decade,” Parsons said. “You can’t do that without a great team of department heads, elected officials and staff across all of county government who are making hard choices every day.”
Staff writer Michael Yoder is an award-winning journalist who has been honored with several Keystone Press Awards for his investigative pieces.
