No property tax increase is expected in 2022 for Jeannette residents, according to chief fiscal officer Ethan Keedy.

But city officials do have some work ahead to make spending cuts in an effort to balance the proposed 2022 budget. During a public session Tuesday, members of council and city government meticulously looked over about half of the anticipated expenditures and suggested line items that could be decreased or eliminated.

“We need to cut $6,000 off this budget,” he told the group. “I would like to try to slash some of these.”

The group went line-by-line through the finance, tax collection, police and other budgets, examining each item closely. Keedy said afterwards that the city has already received the $1.8 million in revenue that was budgeted for property taxes in 2021 with a few months left in the year.

For 2022, $1.9 million is budgeted to be received in property taxes so he believes there is some wiggle room in the proposed spending plan.

“This is the first time that council is getting an in-depth look at the budget prior to it being put in place,” he said.

The group first met last week and will have a third session at 1 p.m. Oct. 26 at city hall. It is open to the public.

City officials also are hoping to get more contributions for costs related to tax collection from the school district and county. City workers collect property taxes for Jeannette, Jeannette City School District and Westmoreland County, and then funnel the money to the appropriate agency, Keedy said. State law requires that each entity pay a share toward the cost.

The county contributes about $40,000 toward the costs of tax collection and Keedy said he is hoping to get an additional $6,100. The school district pays the city about $20,700, but officials are hoping to increase that amount to $36,800.

Those reimbursements go toward costs such as office supplies, tax software and employee compensation, all of which are used in collecting taxes for the three entities.

“The city has incurred costs to collect the school and the county taxes,” Keedy said. “They only reimburse us currently for a very small amount.”

He plans to send letters and meet with officials to discuss the issue.

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