Uniontown council adopts budget
Uniontown City Council voted Thursday to adopt a $7.2 million 2007 budget that does not raise real estate taxes. Council members voted unanimously in favor of the spending plan, which holds the property taxes at the current rate of 8.735 mills.
Next year, property owners will continue to pay $87.30 on every $10,000 of the assessed value of their properties. The tax on a property assessed at $50,000 will be $436.
Projected revenue from property taxes in 2007 is $2,080109, an increase over the $2,014,728 that was collected this year.
Council did not increase the quarterly sewer service fee of $84 or the quarterly garbage collection fee of $36.
In addition to the budget, council accepted a $650,000 tax anticipation loan with 3.7 percent interest from PNC Bank.
The $7,282,683 budget reflects an increase of about $400,000 over this year’s $6,885,247 budget.
A large part of the increase was because of debt service payments on the new parking garage on Penn Street, city Councilman Bob Cerjanec, director of accounts and finance, said Wednesday.
A 4 percent pay raise for all city employees, an 8 percent increase in health insurance premiums and a 2 percent increase in liability insurance also contributed to the increase in the budget, he said.
Debt service in the budget includes a $370,000 payment on the older parking garage on South Street and a $120,000 payment on the new Penn Street garage, which is scheduled to open Jan. 4.
In unrelated business, council unanimously agreed to remove three properties from the state’s Keystone Opportunity Zone program, which abates most taxes to entice development.
The properties are a vacant lot at 11 W. Main St., a lot at the corner of Jefferson and Church streets adjacent to the Uniontown Public Library and Marshall Park, which also is near the library, on East Church Street.
Council placed the properties in the KOZ program in 2003, but no one has expressed interest in them, Cerjanec said Wednesday.
Taxes on real estate, earned income, net profits and business gross receipts taxes are waived for properties in a KOZ.
The city owns the two lots near the library, but 11 W. Main St. is privately owned.
The city sold 11 W. Main St. to Carma Jean Lloyd of Uniontown following an auction in November 2005.
In other business, council gave final approval to an ordinance amendment that increases the cost of health inspections to $100. The fee was $60.
The amendment also adds a $50 fee for additional or follow-up inspections and repeals health inspection exemptions for eating and drinking places in churches, schools and private clubs that do not have liquor licenses.
Also, Councilman Joseph Giachetti said the city will not build a playground on the island in Kensington Circle.
He said many residents living on and near the street contacted him and said they did not want a playground there.
Building a playground with a pavilion and tables was one of the recommendations contained in a preliminary master plan for the city parks. The final plan will be presented to council in January.