2. 2013 Budget
• One of the duties of the minority
commissioner is to offer a different viewpoint
from the majority commissioners and to hold
them accountable.
• Set up meetings with all of the Department
Heads and Elected Officials. I went line-by-line
through their budgets.
• Town Hall Meetings
3. Board Agreement in over
30 Areas of the Budget
• Centre Crest • Jury Commissioners
• Children and Youth Services • Maintenance
• Commissioners • Planning and Community Development
• Conservation District • Probation & Parole
• Controller • Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts
• Cooperative Extension • Public Defender
• Coroner • Recorder of Deeds
• Court Administration • Records Management
• Criminal Justice Planning • Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans'
• District Attorney Court
• District Judges • Risk Management
• Domestic Relations • Sheriff
• Elections and Voter Registration • Tax Assessment
• Emergency Communications/9-1-1 • Tax Collection/Tax Claim
• Emergency Services • Transportation
• GIS • Treasurer
• Housing Authority • Veterans' Affairs
• Human Resources • Weights and Measures
Board has 98.5% of Agreement.
4. Areas of Debate
• Use of Act 13 Funds
• Amount of Contingency Fund
• Prison payroll changes
• Contract with Community Help Centre
• Staffing at the Office of Aging
• Cuts in services at Mental
Health/Intellectual Disabilities
5. Robust Debate on Act 13
• Impact fee was for natural gas related impacts
• Governor Corbett side-stepped around “no
tax” pledge
• I supported the passage of the ordinance even
though the fee was not enough
• Have there been impacts related to the
drilling?
• Use the Act 13 to balance the budget or else
taxes go up
6. Robust Debate on Act 13
• Amount of impact fee will decline. After Year 3
(Spring 2014 payment) the maximum amount
that can be assessed for a well is $20,000. For
the $660,000 payment the County received, the
assessed amount for a well was at $50,000.
• Snow Shoe Borough - $7,000
• Using Act 13 funds for programs that we’ve
historically used General Fund money concerns
me as they might be being moved onto the
endangered species list.
9. Human Services Cuts
• Cuts to three areas of human services budgets:
– Adult Services – contract with Community Help
Centre
– Office of Aging – laying off 3 staff positions
• 3 “Care Managers II” (case workers)
– Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities
• $350,000 reduction in Purchase Client Services
10. Cuts to Human Services
• Adequately funding human services is
important because “it helps people address
their problems now instead of in the future,
when the problems could worsen and become
more expensive to address.”
• What could happen if human services are
reduced?
11. Taxes
• I’ll never be afraid to advocate and fund
something that I believe is important
– 9-1-1 radio system upgrade
• There will be a time in the future when a
Centre County Board of Commissioners raises
taxes. Hopefully, it’s been after they have
exhausted every other measure.
12. Hope for a compromise?
• The Board of Commissioners has 24 days until
final passage of the budget…
• Different perspectives, different approaches