As expected, property owners in Harrison will pay more in real estate taxes next year.
Township commissioners approved a $5.9 million budget that raises property taxes by 9.8%, or one-half of a mill, next year.
The tax rate increases from 5.106 mills to 5.606 mills.
The owner of a property with the township’s median assessed value of $75,100 will pay $38 more in property taxes, or about $421 for the year.
It is the first tax hike in the township in 20 years.
“We’ve been utilizing the budget surplus to balance the budgets for the past several years,” said township Manager Amy Rockwell. “Costs are not going down.
“It came down to cutting services or raising taxes.”
“Nothing is coming down and we’ve held the line for 22 years,” said commissioners Chairman Gary Meanor. “We did not want to cut services.”
That left a modest tax increase as the only viable option, along with using less of the township’s budget surplus, to balance the budget.
Real estate tax assessment appeals have had a negative impact on the budget, township officials said. That impact comes in the form of tax refunds to property owners whose assessment appeals were granted by Allegheny County officials, as well as potential refunds for additional pending appeals.
“It’s not a matter of new increased revenue, but it’s the loss of revenues that we did not anticipate,” Commissioner Jim Erb said.
He said the commissioners want to try to stay ahead of the situation by going with a small tax increase now in hopes of avoiding a large one down the road.
Rockwell said the commissioners also cut expenses by 6% for the coming year as a way to keep the tax increase minimal. Those cuts include eliminating paving projects for 2025.
She said township revenues did receive a boost from the receipt of grant funds from the state’s Local Share program. According to Rockwell, a $350,000 grant to the township is reimbursement for the Harbison Street reconstruction project, which the commissioners financed up front with township money.
Rockwell said that reimbursement will go to the 2025 budget.
One area of the budget that commissioners decided not to reduce is public safety. The public safety budget includes about $1.9 million for police, $501,000 for fire and EMS and nearly $212,000 for zoning/codes/protective inspection.
The vote to approve the budget was 4-1 with Commissioner Eric Bengel casting the lone opposing vote.
“I felt that we could have done better,” Bengel said.