'It wasn’t easy,' but Jeannette holds line on taxes

Jeannette Council passed a 2023 spending plan Thursday that does not include a property tax increase.

The $5.9 million budget includes plenty of spending cuts as the city saw revenues decrease. Chief fiscal officer Ethan Keedy attributed the decrease to a lower amount of earned-income tax funds that could be transferred for pension payment purposes and the elimination of a payment from the school district because a city officer who worked as a school resource officer was replaced by private security.

The pension issue means the city will have to foot a larger bill without the ability to use earned-income tax funds because the payment amount didn’t meet a specific threshold set by the state.

“It’s passed and it’s balanced, but there’s a few things that still need to be resolved,” he said.

One of those is contract negotiations with public works employees. That pact is set to expire at the end of the month.

Budget meetings among council members and department heads started a couple of months ago, and Keedy said that process has been helpful in deciding where cuts can be made.

“We ended up having to cut expenses by $50,000,” he said.

City services and staff levels will remain the same. In the 2023 budget is at least $500,000 in liquid fuels, American Rescue Plan funds and city money that will be directed to a large paving project.

The costs of construction materials have increased and Keedy cautioned that dollar figure might not go as far as it used to, but 2023 is expected to be the beginning of a 10-year paving program.

The millage rate will remain at 35.62 mills. The last time it was increased was for 2020. The city anticipates getting about $1.92 million in property taxes.

“It wasn’t easy this year,” Keedy said. “The next year’s going to be even harder.”