Murrysville officials propose 2021 budget with no tax hike
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Murrysville council will vote in December on a $14.2 million budget for 2021 that does not include a tax increase.
While real estate taxes will remain at 12.15 mills, “the allocation among the various municipal funds has been changed to better meet the needs of the community,” Chief Administrator Jim Morrison wrote in his budget message to council members.
Morrison and finance Director Diane Heming have stressed during the year that while municipal taxes have remained steady — 2021 will be the 14th year in a row they have not increased — creating a balanced budget without a tax hike has posed more of a challenge each year.
For 2021, 1.7 mills have been reallocated as follows:
• 0.9 mills (roughly $306,000) from the general fund for the Murrysville Community Library.
• 0.6 mills (roughly $204,000) from the capital reserve fund for Murrysville’s fire companies.
• 0.2 mills (roughly $68,000) from the general fund for Murrysville Medic One.
This fall, council voted to re-establish a special-purpose fund to account for and track dedicated millage and costs for emergency services and the library, Morrison said.
Murrysville’s largest share of local tax revenue comes from earned-income tax, which is expected to take a sizable hit due to pandemic- related unemployment. While those potential losses were factored into 2021 budget figures, “the full effect of the unemployment within the municipality will not fully be known until final returns are filed in April 2021,” Morrison said.
In addition to hiring an associate finance director and planning for an assistant administrator, officials are considering filling the community development department’s full-time planner position, which has been vacant the past two years after the departure of Allen Cohen.
Outside of the general fund, Heming said capital projects have been scaled back but they do have just over $4 million budgeted for 2021. Major projects include the annual road overlay program, vehicle purchases for police and public works and the construction of an amphitheater next to Murrysville Community Park.