North Huntingdon plans 3.5-mill tax hike

North Huntingdon officials plan to raise real estate taxes by 3.5 mills in 2026 to balance a general fund budget of $15.8 million, a tax increase they said is necessary to fund ongoing operations and projects now that federal covid funds have been exhausted.

Without the tax hike, the township would be financially unstable for the next couple of years, according to Township Manager Harry Faulk.

Township officials break down the tax hike into two parts: 1.5 mills for the general fund and 2 mills for the capital reserve fund for roads and stormwater management projects.

The general fund tax levy is proposed to rise from 9.23 mills to 10.73 mills, raising an additional $550,000. The increase from 1 mill to 3 mills in taxes for the capital reserve fund will generate about $800,000.

The fire service fund would remain at 1.32 mills, which would provide about $81,800 for each of the township’s seven volunteer fire departments. Residents within 600 feet of a fire hydrant are to be taxed at 0.14 mill, the same as this year.

The property tax increase for those whose residential property has an average assessed value of $24,000 will be about $74, Faulk said.

The general fund expenditures are projected to drop about 11% in 2026 from $17 million this year, primarily the result of a $1.35 million cut in public works expenditures and $60,000 from the police department budget.

As part of the budget, the township will eliminate its per capita tax, but still will have Keystone Collections attempt to collect taxes until Dec. 31 from those who never paid. The township received about $65,000 from the per capita tax in 2025.

Without the tax hike, North Huntingdon would have to get “pretty creative” with its finances, Faulk said. Part of the $1 million allocation from the state’s liquid fuels tax allocation would have had to be diverted to pay between $300,000 and $400,000 for road salt, which would result in eliminating a few miles of roadways in the 2026 road paving project, Faulk said.

The capital reserve account, Faulk said, would essentially be drawn down without a property tax hike. With the tax hike, the capital reserve fund is projected to be $1.46 million for 2026.

Like other municipalities, Faulk said the township benefited from the federal funds in the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the covid crisis and was able to avoid a tax hike.

“It put a Band-Aid on a bleeding wound. This time was going to come. It was going to come before covid,” Faulk said.

North Huntingdon had not raised taxes for the general fund since 2012.

“I think at this point, we have no other option,” Commissioner Ron Zona said.

Zona added: “Sometimes, it’s not prudent to wait and wait” before raising taxes.

The tax hike was necessary after several years of maintaining the same tax levy as prices rose, said Commissioner Fran Bevan.

“It we keep kicking the can down the road, we will have a much higher tax increase later,” Bevan said.

Faulk had presented the commissioners with an option of raising taxes for the general fund by 1 mill, but adding an $84 annual stormwater management fee to cover the costs of those projects. The majority of the board opposed that option.

The commissioners are expected to vote on adoption of the final budget at their Dec. 17 meeting.