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Butler County nursing home sale forestalls tax increase, covers project costs

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) - 1/29/2015

Jan. 29--Thanks to the sale of the Sunnyview Nursing Home, Butler County residents are looking forward this year to the completion of two major capital projects -- fully funded, without boosting revenues via a tax increase or incurring any debt.

County commissioners passed a budget Dec. 31 that holds millage rates at their 2014 levels: 20.688 mills to support general operations plus 3.94 mills for debt service. The last tax increase went into effect in 2013.

Chief clerk Amy Wilson said the general fund totaled $61.78 million for 2015. The combination of all funds (including those covered by state and federal dollars) amounted to about $184.2 million, she said.

The ramifications of selling the county-owned nursing home last year -- a sale that yielded almost $20 million in June -- were broad. Overall county staff has been reduced from 761 full-timers and 111 part-timers to 561 and 76, respectively, Ms. Wilson said. "The vast majority" of the decrease was attributable to the nursing home sale. Many of those who are no longer on the county payroll continue to work at the nursing home, which is under private ownership.

Also, the overall size of the county's budget is smaller: The total of all funds was $194.6 million in 2014.

Ms. Wilson said the tangible impact of the nursing home sale was the availability of funding for two major capital projects: the $1.6 million construction of a new district judge office on Marshall Road in Cranberry and the ongoing construction of a $12.1 million annex to the existing County Government Center in downtown Butler.

The new building will house the county's human services operations. Ground was broken in the spring and the four-story building now is under roof. An August opening is anticipated.

"The Sunnyview proceeds were able to cover both projects," Ms. Wilson said.

The remaining balance from the sale has been set aside until the financial books for 2014 are closed in the spring.

The 2015 general fund maintains a longtime tradition of funding more than a dozen nonprofit groups doing business in the county, totaling about $5.85 million. The single biggest allocation totaled $4.92 million and went to the Butler County Community College. The allocation had been cut in 2013 to help balance the budget without a property tax increase. The allocation in 2013 was $4.642 million, followed by $4.753 million in 2014.

Karen Kane: kkane@post-gazette.com or at 724-772-9180.

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