On Wednesday, Dauphin County Commissioners decided to terminate the county’s agreement with its long-standing lobbying firm and hike property taxes by 21.8% in 2025—the first rise in the county’s history.
Due to the massive tax increase, the owner of a $200,000 home will have to pay $1,675 in property taxes annually, which is an extra $300. A $300,000 home’s owner will need to make an additional $450 a year.
Republican Commissioner Mike Pries voted against the hike, while Democratic Commissioners George Hartwick and Justin Douglas supported it.
In order to avoid burdening taxpayers, Hartwick said the county has been trying to reduce expenses, restructure its debt, and raise money. However, since the county had not raised taxes in 19 years, the action was required for the county’s financial stability.
Pries told PennLive that after reviewing the first proposed budget, the county commissioners decreased expenditures by more than $6 million. However, he claimed that he voted against the tax hike because he believed that other expenses, such closing positions that had been unfilled for longer than six months, could have been reduced.
Every year, the county’s budget shortfall widens due to rising expenses and inflation combined with no revenue increases. According to Christopher Davis, director of budget and finance, the county’s general fund was expected to be down $16 million by 2026 if the tax increase didn’t occur.
According to Davis, if everything goes as planned, the county shouldn’t have to hike taxes for a few years.
Instead of a roughly 22% hike all at once, the tax increase would have been no more than 1% annually if the board had implemented tiny, gradual increases, as many local governments do.
According to Pries, the board of commissioners took pride in the fact that taxes had not increased for 19 years.
He explained how the county managed to avoid a tax hike for so long by making cuts where necessary and spending where we could.
Douglas retorted that the county might not be dealing with the employment shortage, infrastructural problems, and other concerns it faces now if commissioners had previously raised taxes modestly.
What did you spend twenty years ago and what does it cost today? “Well,” Douglas said. I don’t think we should be proud of the fact that we can keep running for another 20 years with the same amount of money.
According to Hartwick, the county has been at fault for years due to the sharp increase in healthcare expenditures, the demand for human services, and other expenses.
I was happy to maintain tax stability for 19 years, but what effect did that austerity have on the growth of services? He sent PennLive an e-mail. Without this extremely challenging budget decision, we would be at a key turning point where we would be reducing services.
91 employees will be impacted by the county’s 2025 budget, which increases the minimum pay for county workers to $16 per hour.
Douglas applauded the decision, pointing out that the lowest-paid county employee earns $12.48 per hour, while a 27-year veteran earns $14.
After releasing a call for bids in November, the commissioners also decided on Wednesday to terminate their state lobbying agreement with Greenlee Partners.
Greenlee Partners was one of 13 businesses that submitted bids for the contract, which hasn’t been up for grabs in at least 20 years. By February 1, the county hopes to have a new contract in place with either Greenlee Partners or another company.
Earlier this month, PennLive reported Greenlee Partners co-founder Stanley Rapp had asecret businesswith ex-Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste for over a decade while Haste was in office and Greenlee Partners was representing the county. Numerous disputes about possible conflicts of interest have recently centered on Haste.
Editor’s note: Commissioner George Hartwick’s remarks have been incorporated into this article.
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Stories by
Juliette Rihl
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