Carbon County residents will see a 48.7 percent tax increase in their 2013 county real estate taxes.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, the board voted 2-1 to adopt the 2013 county budget, which calls for a 3.357-mill increase, bringing the new total millage to 10.25 mills - 10 mills for general purposes and .25 mills for debt purposes. This is down .643 mills from the proposed 2013 budget the board approved on Nov. 29. In both votes, Commissioner William O'Gurek voted "no."This means that a homeowner with a $100,000 home that is assessed at $50,000 will pay an additional $167.85 in county real estate taxes next year.Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, explained that the county was able to cut $989,000 from the proposed budget to help decrease the additional millage. Cuts include trimming down grants to various departments, including completely cutting a $1,200 grant that was given annually to each of the six county public libraries.Other cuts include employee layoffs, which Nothstein would not discuss at this time because they were personnel issues that were to be addressed; the Solid Waste department, which will still be operational for the time being; and the animal shelter, which is currently funded for the first six months of the year. A non-profit organization is in the process of getting a proposal together to take over operations of the shelter later next year."This is an ongoing process," Nothstein said. "I don't remember in my 13 years here that we had to spend so much time and energy meeting with department heads to hash out a budget. It's been very difficult. I had to go through it once before and never want to go through it again but we worked diligently. It doesn't end today will continue to work to reduce spending."Following the vote, Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard read a statement he prepared on his "yes" vote for the budget."My vote is 'yes' today for the county budget, and that vote was not done lightly or am I completely comfortable about it because I do not like raising taxes," he said. "But we have to bite the bullet and do something. I did not create this mess, I inherited it. I have been in office less than one year, and there is just no way this deficit was created in that time period."The previous majority commissioners more worried about getting re-elected chose to play a shell game," Gerhard continued, stating that current Commissioner William O'Gurek and former Commissioner Charles Getz were more worried about being able to cite "fiscal responsibility" than actually being fiscally responsible, "chose to ignore the urging of our financial consultants to raise taxes by one mill to help future costs."He continued that they chose to drain the profit from the sale of Weatherwood to cover the growing deficit."It was a bandaid approach that backfired," Gerhard said. "Now it has all been compounded by the drastic cuts thrust upon us by the state and federal governments. ... We have done everything possible to trim the budget and make it one that we can at least live with. We are not happy but want to do what we feel is fiscally responsible and hopefully prevent this from happening in the future. We are eliminating jobs, and we have asked the row office holders and department heads to dig deep and trim their budgets, and to decrease spending as much as possible."Had Commissioner O'Gurek had his way for the 2013 budget, we would have nearly depleted both our debt service fund and our parking revenue fund. Again, another bandaid solution. Commissioner Nothstein and I had hoped that we could indeed put politics aside and unanimously pass this budget."O'Gurek responded to Gerhard's accusations and comments, asking Nothstein if in the eight years he sat on the previous administration as the minority commissioner if he ever suggested the board raise county taxes.Nothstein responded that he had not."And for eight years, we managed to balance the budget," O'Gurek said.He then asked Nothstein and Gerhard if they knew when they voted for the revised 2012 budget this past January that the budget had a $4.2 million deficit in it?Nothstein responded, saying that if the board didn't reopen the budget adopted by O'Gurek and Getz, they would have been faced with only a $1 million fund balance instead of a $4 million fund balance at the end of 2012. He then acknowledged that the board adopted the 2012 budget with a $4.2 million deficit as prior administrations did in the past years.O'Gurek then responded to Gerhard's statements regarding he and Getz's fiscal responsibility."Carbon County taxes did not go up in eight years," O'Gurek said. "We eliminated and when I say we I mean the three of us (Getz, O'Gurek and Nothstein) the occupational tax. We gave county employees raises of 26 percent over eight years; we laid off nobody; we established a third judge, built the quarters for him, spent $1.5 million for it and absorbed the staff for it; we sold the nursing home that was losing $8,200 a day and we reduced the long-term debt of this county from $16 million at the end of 2003 when we took office to just under $8 million when we left as the administration. So I cite those things as accomplishments."Throughout those eight years we were able to not raise taxes and today, and thus the reason for my 'no' vote, we're raising taxes, we're laying off people, we're cutting services, and all I would say to the people is compare."He added "I find it interesting Commissioner Gerhard claims Commissioner Getz and I acted as commissioners for political reasons, when earlier this year, after I made the motion to revive a judgment against Tom Zimmerman for $8,000 he owes the county, neither he nor Commissioner Nothstein second the motion, not once, but twice, at two different meetings. They vote to raise taxes on senior citizens by $50 to $100, money they cannot afford, and then they turn their eyes on a judgment the court has ordered in favor of the county."Nothstein responded to O'Gurek's statements, saying that this problem did not happen overnight."This started a long time ago, not at the fault of any board of commissioners," he said, adding that major issues began with the loss of funding from the state and federal governments for mandated programs."The real estate taxes have not been keeping pace with the growth of Carbon County," Nothstein continued. "Our prison population is going up. There are problems we are facing now and in the future. I wish it was just that easy to say no to everything but if we cut certain things, we lose all state and federal funding."That's why I voted for this budget because we can't cut our throats by taking everything down to nothing," he added. "If we had not opened up the budget we would have had to take out a loan for our tax anticipation note."He explained that other problem areas include increases in operating costs, such as fuel, insurances, county-owned vehicles, increases in the court system due to more cases, lower revenue for recyclable goods, and electronic voting machines that are beginning to show their age and are having problems. Nothstein also addressed O'Gurek's proposal for the budget, which called for taking money from the debt service fund and parking fund.O'Gurek then outlined his proposal, which was not part of the adopted budget."I proposed to use $1.5 million from the debt service fund that has $2.4 million in it and transfer it to the general fund," O'Gurek said. "That would have automatically reduced 1 mill of taxes for the people. Our long-term debt is $900,000 a year and at the current millage we would generate $864,000. We owe $900,000 and would generate $864,000 of it in a half-mill debt service tax so why in the world would we keep $2.4 million in debt service?He noted that $1.5 million of debt service represents proceeds from the sale of the nursing home that the county put in the fund in 2011."I say the people are looking for us to use that money to not raise taxes as high as we have to and that was my proposal and that is one of my reasons for voting against this budget," he said."I understand we have a different philosophy and I want you to know it's nothing against you personally," O'Gurek told his colleagues. "We worked at this budget form the time of tentative adoption to today very diligently and each one of us suggested cuts and changes and different approaches and I'm comfortable with a lot of them. I know we reduced expenses but I still say we have extra money in debt service and extra money in the parking fund $640,000 and I was proposing taking half or $300,000 that could go toward the budget. It would have generated $1.8 million so I proposed we could have reduced taxes by more than 1 mill over what we are already reducing it. When it's raining, you put up the umbrella and you try to do the best job you can, and I just think this budget falls short of going the distance to do the best job we can for all the taxpayers."Nothstein disagreed with O'Gurek, saying that if the county didn't maintain the $2.4 million debt service balance, it would not be able to address issues such as the much needed prison expansion."If we drain it down to nothing then we will have to come back with another big increase and borrow more money," Nothstein said. "Let's not cut our throats now and cut too much and then have to come back in the future and do more (raise taxes)."O'Gurek again responded, saying that no matter what, the county will still have to take out a new bond issue when it decides to enlarge the prison, or any of the county facilities."Saving $1.5 million of debt service right now for something long term is, to me, not being fair to those people who will pay $60, $70, $80, $90 extra in taxes," O'Gurek said.Following the discussion, Gerhard again addressed his colleagues, thanking them; as well as financial consultant Jeff Weiss, and Eloise Ahner, county administrator, for their hard work on the adopted budget."I feel extremely sad for the people on fixed incomes," he then said regarding the increase. "We have the opportunity to come to work every day and make money. My wife works."He then announced that he will not be accepting the annual raise he was scheduled to get in 2013, and would be returning it to the general fund."I want to do what I can on my part," Gerhard continued. "If we have to increase taxes, it's not fair for me to get a raise so I'm turning down my raise."Nothstein said that he will also not accept the raise.In related matters, the commissioners also voted to terminate the lease between Bowmanstown and the county for office space in the borough for the Department of Solid Waste, effective March 31.Nothstein said the decision does not mean the program will end at that time, but it all depends on if the municipalities decide to help keep the program.The board then voted remove the blue bins from the Carbon Plaza Mall because both Lehighton and Mahoning Township already have recycling programs in place. The move will help save the county around $51,000 a year.