NEWS
MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
COURT HOUSE, NORRISTOWN, PA., BOX 311, 19404-0311
PHONE (610) 278-3061 FAX 278-5943
COMMISSIONERS:
JAMES R. MATTHEWS, Chairman, JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, BRUCE L. CASTOR, JR
RELEASE: IMMEDIATELY 12/23/08 PR#08-44
Montgomery County Commissioners Adopt No Tax Increase Budget for 2009
NORRISTOWN — The Montgomery County Commissioners adopted a 444.6 million budget with no tax increase for 2009.
The owner of a home assessed at $168,242, the county average, will continue to pay $453.41 for the county portion of their real estate taxes next year.
The tax rate for the County portion of residents’ real estate taxes will remain 2.695 mills. A mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The Commissioners found savings in a number of areas to cover declining revenues and increased expenditures in some areas.
One major area of savings is in health benefits for employees. The County will continue to provide employees with full health care coverage through Keystone HMO at a savings of $4.2 million.
Despite the need to cut spending, the County was able to balance the budget without layoffs. There will be a reduction in the number of County employees through attrition and a hiring-freeze that went into effect in September will continue through at least March of 2009.
The budget is funded in part through a $20 million fund balance appropriation. That is a $13 million decrease in what was needed from that fund to balance last year’s budget. The fund balance is essentially an emergency reserve fund that, through careful monitoring of spending and cost cutting, the Commissioners will maintain at $45.94 million in 2009.
