Bradford County commissioner: County tax rate won't be raised this year

Published: November 20, 2009

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BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN

TOWANDA - The chairman of the Bradford County commissioners stated unequivocally on Thursday that there will not be an increase in the county property tax this year.

In addition, the Bradford County commissioners on Thursday approved $65,000 in grants, which are funded by room tax money.

At their meeting on Thursday, the commissioners also approved the hiring of an Imler, Pa., company to design and construct a Web site for the Bradford County Manor.

Tax rate

Speaking at the Bradford County commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Bradford County Commission Chairman Mark Smith stated: "We are not going to raise taxes this year."

The commissioners are still working to prepare the 2010 county budget, and will pass the budget and set the county property tax rate on Dec. 23.

The proposed county budget will be available for public review for 20 days, beginning on Dec. 3.

The county is still waiting for some information from the state that it needs in order to complete the budget, Smith said.

Last week, when the budget was less finalized, Smith had said the commissioners did not expect that there will be an increase in the county property tax this year. This week, however, he stated unequivocally that there will be no tax increase.

Room tax

The county had a good year this year for room tax revenue, due to the many people in the natural gas industry who are staying in local motels, Smith said.

The county is now distributing $65,000 in room tax revenue to 20 organizations, such as the Troy Fair/Alparon Community Park and the LeRoy Heritage Museum.

One of the recipients of a grant funded by the room tax revenue will be the Bradford County Parks Committee, which was given $4,200 to purchase signs for the county's parks that are recommended in the master plans that are being developed for the parks, Smith said.

The committee has also given a $1,700 grant for brochures to promote the county parks, he said.

Web site

Until now, the Bradford County Manor has not had its own Web site, although there is a link on the county's Web site that can be used to obtain information about the Manor, which is a nursing home in West Burlington Township that is owned by the county, Smith said.

The Manor wants its own Web site to use as a marketing tool, Smith said.

The county will pay CORLEation of Imler, Pa., $1,225 to design and construct the Web site for the Manor and host it for one year.

For each year thereafter, the hosting fee will be $200.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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2 posted comments

Why is Alparon park getting part of this $65,000? Are they not already leasing/renting land and camping lots to the gas companies? Where is this money supposed to be going? It's definately not going to any kinds of improvements at Alparon park.
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confused,  11/20/09 12:46
I'm so glad that the room tax revenue is being used within our county. My concern is that the signs being purchased for the county parks are not vandalized once they are in place.Some park security should be present or our tax money will be wasted again!Why don't we start with a decent road into some of our parks before we worry about signs. We can't read them if a road is not accessible to all visitors.
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Concerned citizen,  11/20/09 11:00