Residents in State College, others in the Centre Region could see their taxes go up next year
Elected officials in the Centre Region are set to vote on the 2025 budgets in the next month and several municipalities will have a tax increase proposed for the next year.
The State College borough has the largest proposed increase in the Centre Region. The 2025 draft budget includes a three mill increase, which will bring its total millage to 22.88. During a budget work session earlier this month, 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.
“There is a structural imbalance in the general fund and we are recommending a tax increase in 2025, likely also in 2026 and 2027, to achieve a structurally balanced budget. But as you can see from the fund balances, we’re certainly not broke. We’re continuing to operate. We’re continuing to be very successful in receiving grants for capital projects, but there is clearly the need to move toward a structurally balanced budget,” Fountaine said.
The proposed 2025 budget includes $77.8 million in expenditures and $64.3 million in revenues. The general fund budget makes up about $40 million of those expenditures and about $38 million of the revenues.
Of the proposed tax increase, two mills would go to the general fund and one mill would go to the capital fund. It would bring in an additional $1.2 million to the general fund and $582,185 to the capital fund.
By adding the mill to the capital fund, the borough can begin building a regular revenue source for capital projects, Dwight Miller, the borough’s finance director, said.
The tax increase impact on residents will vary but the borough provided the impact on three levels of homes:
A home with a market value of $300,000 without the homestead exclusion would see an annual increase of $159.29, and with the homestead exclusion would see an annual increase of $84.24.
A home with a market value of $400,000 without the homestead exclusion would see an annual increase of $212.39 and with the homestead exclusion would see a $137.39 annual increase.
A home with a market value of $500,000 without the homestead exclusion would see an annual increase of $265.49 and with the homestead exclusion would see a $190.40 annual increase.
In his budget letter to the council, Fountaine wrote the 2025 budget priorities include revising on- and off-street parking strategies, completing the comprehensive zoning revisions, attracting and retaining businesses downtown, investing in affordable and inclusionary housing, crime prevention and investing in energy saving projects.
Key projects included in the budget are Calder Way improvements, the Parkway multimodal path construction, Orchard Park bike path improvements, repairing the pedestrian/bike bridge in Walnut Spring Park and the Action Sports Park, Fountaine wrote in the letter.
The council will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 p.m. Monday. During the meeting the council is also expected to review the fee schedule, which includes some increased rates and adjustments that would shorten the amount of parking time some rates cover. A vote to approve the final budget will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 16.
Ferguson Township
Ferguson Township’s 2025 budget could include two tax increases, a 0.75 mill real estate tax increase and a 0.125% property transfer tax increase.
At the township’s meeting on Nov. 19, the supervisors held a discussion on whether to raise taxes and how much to raise them by, as the township’s expenditures have exceeded the township’s revenue every year since 2017, excluding 2021, according to the township’s meeting agenda.
To make up for that deficit, the originally proposed tax bump was a 1.5 mill raise in the real estate tax and a 0.25% raise in the property transfer tax, but Supervisor Omari Patterson proposed that those numbers be halved to lessen any possible financial burdens on the township’s residents, which was agreed upon by his fellow supervisors.
An updated budget is expected to be presented during a public hearing on Tuesday.
The township’s current real estate tax rate sits at 2.422 mills and the property transfer tax rate sitting at 1.25% — if the operating budget is approved, the township’s total millage would sit at 3.172 mills, and property transfer tax would increase to 1.375%.
These 2025 tax increases are part of a plan for the township to bring their expenditures and revenue level through the next three years, with real estate tax increases being planned for 2026 and 2027.
Currently, the township’s budget shows expenditures of $28.2 million with recurring revenues of $24.8 million, however, that’s before the adjustment for the proposed tax increase. Updated numbers will be shown at Tuesday’s meeting.
The budget, as of the Nov. 19 meeting, 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.
Patton Township
Patton Township’s 2025 budget includes a proposed one mill tax increase, bringing Patton’s total millage to 10.9. The increase is needed because of rising operating costs and the end of the American Rescue Plan Act money, the township’s budget letter states.
“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.
The budget shows $12.9 million in revenues and $13.4 million in expenditures.
Several projects are highlighted in the budget, including finishing a facilities assessment for the public works department, replacing the roof of the municipal building and play equipment at the Graysdale Park, and completing signal projects along the Atherton Street corridor and Colonnade Boulevard.
The board will hold a public hearing on Dec. 18.
College Township
College Township is not considering a tax increase, Township Manager Adam Brumbaugh told the CDT in an email Wednesday. Brumbaugh expects the tentative budget to be approved at the College Township Council meeting on Thursday.
Halfmoon Township
Halfmoon Township is not considering a tax increase, according to its proposed 2025 budget. The board will hold a public hearing on Dec. 12.
Harris Township
The Harris Township’s 2025 operating budget includes a proposed 1.1 mill real estate tax increase, according to the township’s budget document. That increase would bring the township’s total millage to 7.8 mills.
The township’s 2024 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, the budget document reads.
The tentative budget was approved at the township’s meeting on Nov. 11, and the board will hold a public hearing on Dec. 9.
Bellefonte Borough
Bellefonte residents could see a tax increase for the street light, fire department and other funds, Borough Manager Ralph Stewart wrote in a Wednesday email. The proposed budget does not include tax increases in the general fund.
The street light and fire department funds have proposed 0.05 mills and 0.12 mills increases, both supported by the borough’s real estate taxes.
Stewart also wrote that other departments could see increases as well, depending on what the borough council members decide on at the council’s meeting on Monday, where a tentative budget is expected to be approved.
According to the borough council’s agenda for Monday’s meeting, funding in the borough’s parks department could be increased by 0.2 mills to provide additional winter maintenance to the waterfront walkway, funding in the borough’s public transit funding could be increased to 0.35 mills to raise the fund’s total amount to $35,000 and the borough’s EMS funding could be increased to 0.35 mills, which could result in a total millage increase of 1.07 mills across the five departments.
After the tentative budget is approved, Monday’s meeting agenda states that it will then be made available for public viewership in the borough’s office and website by no later than Friday, and a public hearing for the borough’s final budget will take place at the council’s Dec. 16 meeting.
