Are your taxes going up this year? Here’s a look at municipal budgets in the Centre Region

Last month, municipalities across the commonwealth approved their final budgets for 2025, and most of the municipalities in the Centre Region will see a tax increase.

The Centre Region area, which spans over seven municipalities — Bellefonte and State College boroughs, and College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris and Patton townships — will see five municipalities raise their taxes for 2025.

Budgets for Bellefonte and State College boroughs, and Ferguson, Harris and Patton townships all include tax increases, with the largest increase coming from State College Borough. State College’s budget includes a three mill real estate tax increase, bringing the borough’s total millage rate to 22.88 mills.

The Centre County Government passed its 2025 budget with no tax increase.

Included below is a snapshot of the Centre Region area municipalities’ budgets, as well as the Centre County government’s budget.

Centre County

The Centre County Commissioners adopted the county’s 2025 budget with no increase in real estate taxes — a feat that’s been done for 15 straight years. The county’s total budget for 2025 sits at $135 million, with a $118.5 million operating budget and a $16.5 capital budget.

The budget shows a 3.7% increase in total revenue, and a 4.8% increase in total expenditures to fund county operations. According to the budget, the main factors contributing to expenditures this year are “increases in employee insurance coverage and overall cost increases,” and “unexpected capital repairs.”

• Operating Budget: $118.5 million, capital budget is $16.5 million. Total operating and capital expenditures are $135 million
• Real Estate Tax Rate: 7.84 mills; no tax increase
• Budget Highlights: Despite no raise in taxes, a 1.6% growth in real estate tax revenue was seen in the county this year. The county has also incurred a 180% increase in interest earnings in 2024 due to “historically high short-term interest rates.” Those earnings are expected to decrease with the remaining American Rescue Act funds.

Bellefonte Borough

Bellefonte residents can expect a tax increase this year, with the borough’s 2025 budget showing a .10 mill increase in the emergency medical services fund, a .12 mill increase in the fire department fund, a .05 mill increase in the street-lighting fund and a .20 mill increase in the parks fund, bringing the borough’s total millage rate to 19.335 mills, from 18.865.

According to borough manager Ralph Stewart’s budget introduction message, balancing the budget this year was a challenge for a variety of reasons.

“Bellefonte Borough has a relatively small geographic coverage area of 1.8 square miles,” Stewart wrote. “With little room for new homes that bring increased real estate revenue and new wage earners (who move into the new homes), Bellefonte Borough has a real financial struggle in maintaining the same level of services each year without a millage rate increase. The borough, like all employers, is dealing the increases in costs and seeing more difficulty in getting applicants for openings.”

Because of those challenges, “approximately $160,000” of 2024’s revenues had to be used to balance 2025’s budget and to “maintain the same level of services,” although no tax increase has been proposed in the borough’s General Fund.

Expenditures: $16.2 million

Revenue: $16.2 million

Real Estate Tax Rate: 19.335 mills, an increase of 0.47 mills.

College Township

College Township, having adopted its 2025 budget in late December, is one of the two municipalities in the Centre Region area that will not be seeing a tax increase this year.

This will be the township’s third straight year without raising taxes.

Expenditures: $12.08 million

Revenue: $11.1 million

Real Estate Tax Rate: 6.10 mills; no tax increase. The millage rate increased by 0.2 mills in the Parks and Recreation Fund, by 0.1 mills in the Fire Protection Fund, by 0.08 mills in the Library Fund and by 0.19 in the Debt Service Fund, but decreased by 0.57 mills in the General Fund to offset those increases.

Budget Highlights: The township’s three major expenditures this year will come from payroll and benefits, capital projects and police protection, with the three accounting for $3.11 million, $2.96 million and $1.86 million in costs, respectively.

Ferguson Township

For the first time since 2006, Ferguson Township residents will see a raise in real estate taxes as part of the township’s 2025 budget.

After a series of lengthy discussions at two budget work sessions last fall, the township’s supervisors came to the conclusion of raising the township’s real estate tax by 0.75 mills and the property transfer tax by 0.125%, after initially considering a 1.5 mill bump in the real estate tax, and a 0.25% bump in the property transfer tax.

Those numbers were halved after Supervisor Omari Patterson suggested that the tax increases be reduced to help lessen “any possible financial burdens on the township’s residents,” which was agreed upon by his fellow supervisors.

These tax increases come as a part of a plan to help reverse the deficits that Ferguson Township has seen in every budget since 2017, excluding 2021, with tax increases also being planned for the township’s 2026 and 2027 budgets.

Despite the increases though, Ferguson Township still has a structurally unbalanced 2025 operating budget, with expenditures outweighing the costs by roughly $2.8 million.

Expenditures: $28.4 million

Revenue: $25.6 million

Real Estate Tax Rate: 3.172 mils; a 0.75 mill increase. Property transfer tax will rise to a total of 1.375%, an increase of 0.125%.

Budget Highlights: The budget includes 40 capital improvement projects such as the construction of bike paths along the shoulders of the Pine Grove Road, the implementation of phase two in the Cecil Irvin Park and intersection improvement projects.

Halfmoon Township

Halfmoon Township is the other municipality in the Centre Region area to have passed its 2025 budget without any tax increase.

The township’s residents have not seen a tax increase there since before the township’s tax rate was lowered as part of its 2023 budget.

Expenditures: $1.1 million

Revenue: $1.1 million

Real Estate Tax Rate: 7.37 mills; no tax increase.

Budget Highlights: Halfmoon Township has allotted $70,000 this year toward road projects, specifically continued work on the three-year Smith Road berm project. Another $21,800 has been set aside for general roadway upkeep, including crack-sealing, tree removals and aggregate purchases.

Harris Township

For the third straight year, residents of Harris Township can expect a tax increase — this time by 1.5 mills, despite the township’s 2025 budget suggesting a proposed 1.1 mill tax increase. The additional 0.4 mills were agreed upon and added to the budget by the township’s supervisors at a work session last November.

This tax increase brings the township’s total millage rate to 8.2 mills.

The township’s 2025 budget was approved using funds from the township’s health insurance reserve fund, meaning that the tax increase will help to offset that lost funding, according to a budget document.

According to Township Manager Mark Boeckal’s budget memorandum, the township’s staff went to “great lengths” to minimize cost increases in 2025, despite rising inflation rates.

“One-time projects and improvements were reassigned from the general fund to the special projects fund where possible, reducing the disparity between revenues and expenditures in the general fund,” Boeckal wrote. “As a result, the general fund primarily reflects operating expenditures only.”

Boeckal wrote that despite the township’s staff cutting several “unnecessary” expenditures — such as software subscriptions, banking fees and the heating of the township’s old maintenance facility — an increase in taxes was necessary to “adopt a balanced budget, establish a fund balance and plan for future increases in expenditures.”

Expenditures: $4.3 million

Revenue: $4.4 million

Real Estate Tax Rate: 8.2 mills; a 1.5 mill increase.

Budget Highlights: A total of $149,500 was set aside in the 2025 budget for the township’s “special project fund,” a fund created in 2018 for one-time improvements and projects. Some of the items listed in the township’s 2025 special projects list include tree planting in the Kaywood North development, the development of a sidewalk master plan and the installation of trails, parking easements and two ADA-accessible fishing piers at Tussey Pond Park.

Patton Township

Patton Township’s 2025 budget shows a one mill increase in real estate tax, meaning that 2025 is the second straight year the township has increased taxes. This increase brings Patton Township’s total millage rate to 10.9 mills.

According to the township’s budget letter, the increase is due to rising operating costs and the diminishing of the township’s American Rescue Plan Act money.

“The increase in tax millage will help us smooth through these increases and continue to provide high quality services to our residents,” the letter states.

The annual increase will be $35.40 for a home with a market value of $200,000, $70.80 for a home with a market value of $400,000 and $106.20 for a home with a market value of $600,000, according to the township.

Expenditures: $13.4 million

Revenue: $12.9 million, with $1.6 million being carried over from last year to make up the difference.

Real Estate Tax Rate: 10.9 mills; a one mill increase

Budget Highlights: The budget makes note of projects including a roof replacement on the township’s municipal building, the installation of new equipment at Greyscale Park and the completion of multiple signal projects along the Atherton Street and Colonnade Boulevard.

State College Borough

State College Borough’s 2025 budget includes the largest tax increase of all municipalities in the Centre Region area, with an increase of three mills approved. This increase brings the borough’s total millage rate to 22.88 mills.

Of the three mill increase, two mills will go to the general fund and one mill will go to the capital fund. It will bring in an additional $1.2 million to the general fund and $582,185 to the capital fund.

During a budget work session last November, borough manager Tom Fountaine said the tax increase is needed after years of having budgets that aren’t structurally balanced. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve tried to pass budgets without increasing taxes to allow residents and businesses to recover and used one-time revenues in place of tax increases, Fountaine said.

State College Borough’s 2026 and 2027 budgets will likely also have tax increases in them, as part of a plan for the borough to achieve a structurally balanced budget by 2027.

Expenditures: $77.8 million

Revenue: $64.3 million, with $13.5 million being allocated from fund balances to make up the difference

Real Estate Tax Rate: 22.88 mills; a three mill increase

Budget Highlights: The budget includes funding for a few capital projects, with most of the funding being provided through grants. These projects include the second phase of Calder Way, High Point Action Sports Park, street reconstruction and street resurfacing. Because of the imbalanced budget though, many projects have been delayed to 2026.