Schuylkill County property owners will be paying higher taxes next year.

Commissioners on Wednesday approved a preliminary $60,158,735 general fund budget that calls for a 1-mill tax increase.The increase would take the tax rate from the current 13.98 mills to 14.98. That would mean the owner of a property assessed for taxes at $30,000 would pay about $449 in property tax, or about $30 more next year.The levy would include 14.83 mills for the general fund and 0.15 mills for debt service.The per capita tax would remain the same at $5.Commissioners expect to adopt a final spending plan when they meet on Dec. 28.This would be the second property tax increase in 12 years. Commissioners increased the levy by 2 mills in 2014.Each mill generates about $2.4 million, said Finance Director Paul E. Buber.He said health care and increased demands on the Children and Youth Services Agency are driving the proposed increase.Health care costs rose by $1,162,375 to a total of $14,575,000.The county subsidy for Children and Youth rose by $581,185 to a total of $4,229,696.Collective bargaining agreements called for an increase of about 3 percent, or $526,248.Budget detailsWhile the general fund budget anticipates $60,158,735 in expenses, it expects to generate only $54,915,867 in revenue, even with the 1 mill increase, which would generate about $2.4 million.The county will bridge the $5,242,868 gap by taking that amount from the general fund's unassigned fund balance, Buber said.The total budget calls for $124,861,155 in expenditures and $117, 810,189 in revenues.Initially, the spending plan carried a $12,127,524 deficit. But the county's financial team was able to generate about $4,484,656 in cost reductions, narrowing the gap to about $7,642,868, Buber said.Commissioners reactionsCommissioner Gary J. Hess said he hopes courthouse departments will "look at their budget and see what is really necessary."He said 65 percent of the general fund budget is fueled by property tax revenues. The county is always seeking ways to increase other sources to lighten the burden on property owners, he said."We need to provide the services to the folks of Schuylkill County. But we need to do it ion the most cost effective way we can," said Commissioner Frank J. Staudenmeier."We need to be vigilant, and we need to be as prudent as we possibly can," he said."We have to provide services, but we have to do that within the parameters we have," said Commissioners' Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr.He said the county's wellness program helped avoid an even bigger increase in health care costs.Children and Youth has had "major increases in regulations of their reporting. There's much more that has been put on them," Halcovage said.He also said prison costs are rising."These are things that are out of our control," Halcovage said. "If someone needs to be incarcerated, they need to be incarcerated. That's one of the services we have."Our legislative delegation knows that we are looking for alternatives, whether it be an Earned Income Tax or some other type of flow."He said that "on a municipal basis, the Earned Income Tax does help out matters immensely. We do not have the luxury of having that type (of tax)."County Administrator Gary Bender and all three commissioners thanked Buber and financial analyst Christopher Kerns, as well as row officers for their work in trimming an initial 2-mill increase."When we started this budget, what was presented by department heads was $12,127,524. We're down to $7.6 million. Those cuts were not made flippantly," Bender said."As you can imagine, with that number of cuts, not everybody is going to be happy," he said."Nobody likes a (tax) increase, and we tried to work it down as well as we could," Bender said.Bender said his office and Buber's will continue to loom for ways to cut spending.Bender also advised commissioners to freeze hiring; all travel except for mandatory/certification training; "right size" operations through furloughs in noncore areas; eliminate and consolidate positions; use more part-time employees; consider outsourcing some operational functions; and initiate new fees for service.