Property owners in Schuylkill County will once again see their property tax bills stay the same as last year.

Commissioners on Wednesday approved a $58,437,065 million preliminary 2016 budget that keeps the tax the same at 13.98 mills. That means the owner of a property assessed for taxes at $50,000 would again pay $699.The per capita tax will also stay at $5, according to the preliminary spending plan.Of the rate, 13.83 mills will go into the general fund, and the remaining 0.15 mills will help pay off debt.Each mill is expected to generate $2.5 million, said county Finance Director Paul Buber.In order to balance the budget, the commissioners agreed to take $8,145,873 from the county's unassigned fund balance.The sale of the county nursing home, Rest Haven, finalized in September, pumped $10 million into county coffers. However, a sharp $13 million drop in property values put a dent in the county's revenue.Sending sentenced inmates to prisons outside the county to alleviate overcrowding will take a big chunk of revenue, $1.5 million, Buber said.The state has ordered the county to act to house fewer inmates. Sending some men to Delaware and some women to Muncy is the short-term solution while the county works on long-term measures.Employee health care is another big-ticket item at an anticipated $12,895,200.Funding and housing the Children & Youth Services Agency will cost the county $3,648,511, an increase of about $500,000. The agency has had its workload increased due to new state child abuse reporting laws and the growing drug abuse problem.The agency is also moving from its current quarters into a more spacious and secure building across the street. The county bought and is renovating a former beauty school at 324 N. Centre St. at a cost of about $1.78 million.Last December, commissioners went into what they described as "austerity mode" to curtail costs. They used money from the reserve fund to close a $4.16 million gap - about one month's operating cost - to balance the budget without increasing the property tax rate. They planned to use money from the sale of Rest Haven to repay the fund.They froze hirings and wages, and furloughed noncore employees.Last year, each mill generated about $2.5 million, about 61 percent of what the county needed. The remaining 39 percent came from government grants and county fees.