Lower Burrell considering tax hike in early budget talks

After two budget workshops, Lower Burrell officials are looking at a possible real estate tax increase for the coming year.

Specifics are not yet available as city council continues to work through city departmental budgets looking for places to cut, said Chris Fabry, the city councilman who head ups the city’s accounts and finances.

The city’s initial budget draft had a $800,000 shortfall, which was whittled down to a $548,000 shortfall, and city officials want to cut it down more, he said.

“In the past, we have relied on our reserve fund to make up for shortfalls in our budget, but that is not a sustainable solution,” Fabry said.

The increase looks inevitable given expenses, Mayor John Andrejcik said. With increasing expenses, “you can’t keep going without getting some revenue from somewhere.”

Besides the 2018 real estate tax increase passed to pay for the city hall renovations, the city hasn’t raised taxes for operations for seven years, Fabry said. In 2018, council raised the tax rate by 1.5 mills, which cost the median household an extra $27 a year in real estate taxes.

There wasn’t any one expense or any particular loss of revenue driving this year’s budget struggle, Fabry said.

“Costs are generally up across the board,” he said. “Materials, pension contributions, insurances and union contracts all increase each year.”

City department heads are still reviewing areas to cut and change, Fabry said Wednesday.

“We are going to continue to evaluate everything until we present our finalized budget in November,” he said.

During council’s agenda meeting on Monday, they will discuss additional changes to the budget. They plan to pass a preliminary budget at their meeting Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.