Jefferson Hills property owners will not have to reach deeper into their pockets to pay real estate taxes this year.

Council passed its 2022 budget and maintained the millage rate at 5.66 mills at a December meeting.

The tax rate includes 5.225 mills for general purposes, 0.355-mill for fire protection and 0.079-mill for EMS.

Garbage and sewage fees also remain the same .

Projected revenue and expenses were was listed at about $11.76 million.

Income includes about $5.1 million in real estate taxes, more than $1.9 million in earned income taxes, $962,000 in charges for services, $390,000 in licenses and permits, $331,000 in real estate transfer tax, $325,000 in sales tax, $316,000 in intergovernmental revenues, $242,000 in Local Services Tax, $82,000 in fines and forfeits and $21,000 in mercantile tax.

Revenue also includes about $1.85 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. Council is still working on a plan to spend that money.

Spending includes $3.8 million for police; $1.3 million for public works; $935,000 for finance and administration; $930,000 for sanitation and recycling; $702,800 for the fire department; EMS and emergency management; $578,200 for parks, recreation and the library; $373,000 for planning and zoning; $229,500 for the borough building, including supplies and maintenance; and $35,700 for mayor and council.

Among the spending planned for finance and administration are $110,000 for legal services, $107,700 for a borough manager and $91,600 for engineering.

The borough allocated a little more than $2 million toward capital projects including $740,000 for road improvements, $200,000 for park improvements, $115,000 for stormwater management, $155,000 for public works trucks, $125,600 for police vehicles and $50,000 for other police department upgrades.

The vote was 6-1. Councilman Keith Reynolds dissented.

Reynolds said he objected to the use of more than $680,000 in reserve funds being used to balance the budget.

“We’ve spent (money) out of the reserve to tell the residents that the taxes aren’t going up,” Reynolds said. “We can’t control our spending. All we’ve done is let these real estate developers put up houses wherever they want to, but we spend all the money we’ve got in the bank.”

Dave Montgomery, council vice president and finance committee member, disagreed.

He said about $640,000 from reserves was put in last year’s budget, and overall spending ended up being around $800,000 under budget.

“We take some money out every year, and a lot of times we don’t spend it,” Montgomery said. “It’s a balancing mechanism. Last year we didn’t spend anything (from the reserve). We’re in good shape. Our bond rating is higher than it’s ever been, which is a good thing. If we had to borrow (money) it won’t cost as much.”

Montgomery also noted the borough will not need to take out a tax anticipation note. Such a financial note is a short-term loan that some municipalities and school districts acquire to have cash on hand before tax revenue starts coming in.

“We had enough carryover to go to at least February,” Montgomery said. “It’s a long history of prudent management and watching all expenditures. The borough has grown and we have more real estate income than we used to. That’s a major source of income, real estate taxes.”

The budget is available for review at the borough office as well as online at jeffersonhillsboro.org.

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