Westmoreland County commissioners on Monday unveiled a preliminary budget for 2022 that keeps the property tax rate at its current level while also continues the decades-long trend of deficit spending.

The proposed $365.5 million budget carries no cuts in services and is expected to be trimmed in the coming weeks before a final spending plan is approved in mid-December.

“This is when we will really dig in and go through it line-by-line. We have not done that yet. That is when we will do the real work,” said Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher.

The tax rate is anticipated to remain at 21.49 mills, having last been increased by a previous board of commissioners at the end of 2019. Each mill generates about $4 million in revenue for the county.

Overall, general operating revenues are expected to tick upward in 2022 by about $400,000, primarily through additional business occupancies at the county’s industrial parks, said Commissioner Doug Chew.

“The industrial development company, if you have been watching over the last two years, this board has been in office, has brought on board several property buys that now have buildings and you’re seeing that as increased revenue going forward,” Chew said.

Expenses are expected to outpace revenues in the proposed budget by about $10.5 million and commissioners for now said they will rely on what is expected to be a $17 million surplus at the end of 2021 to balance next year’s spending plan.

About a third of the proposed budget is earmarked to pay for human service programs.

Meghan McCandless, the county’s finance director, said the final budget is likely to see the deficit narrowed.

“We already sat down with the (commissioners’ chiefs of staff) and made some preliminary cuts but there will be additional cuts,” McCandless said.

Overall, the county has a substantial amount of money in the bank as a result of cash infusions from last year’s CARES Act grant programs and allocations this year through the American Rescue Plan in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

McCandless said about $30 million is still available to spend for rent relief programs. The county also banked half of the $105 million it was allocated earlier this year as part of the American Rescue Plan. The second half of that grant is expected to hit the county’s bank account in early 2022.

Those funds are not part of the proposed spending for general county operations. Commissioners said they expect to craft a plan by early 2022 to spend the $105 million in American Rescue Plan cash for programs specifically identified under guidelines for that money such as to cover covid-related expenses, water and sewer projects and broadband enhancements.

Meanwhile, commissioners said money accrued from other grant programs during the pandemic allowed officials to bolster the county’s financial situation, which just two years ago required a tax increase and nearly drained the surplus that had been relied upon for decades to balance to the budget.

Savings attributed to the pandemic improved the county’s financial outlook, said Commissioner Sean Kertes.

“The difference is now we will have a fund balance, which is a day and night difference,” Kertes said.

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