West View's 2021 budget trims spending to hold line on property tax rate

West View’s budget for 2021 keeps the borough’s tax rate the same but trims spending by about $132,000 to make up for a projected dip in revenue from several key sources.

The nearly $3.84 million spending plan unanimously approved by council on Dec. 10. It anticipates revenue from property tax, including collections from prior years as well as delinquencies, will be $1.927 million, or 3.1% less than was budgeted for 2020. The property tax is the borough’s largest source of income.

The 6.3-mill rate used to calculate property tax bills will remain unchanged. A mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. Residents with a home valued at $100,000 will continue to pay $630 next year to fund borough operations.

The tax rate was increased from 5.4 mills to 6.3 mills – 16.7% – for 2020 to raise the revenue needed to maintain the level of services provided by the borough. Prior to that, the rate hadn’t been increased since 2009, when 1 mill was tacked on.

Despite the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, West View expects that income from taxes most affected by the disruption of commerce will be fairly stable.

Money from the 1% earned income tax levied on wages and split with the North Hills School District is expected to be around $885,500, which is $4,500 more than budgeted this year. It is the second-largest source of income for the municipality.

But revenue from levies paid by local businesses, such as the mercantile, business privilege and the mechanical device taxes, are likely to fall, along with the collections from fines and permits.

To balance the budget without a tax increase, many departments will receive the same or less funding next year.

Money budgeted to demolish buildings was cut by 50% to $10,000 next year. The road salt budget dropped to $45,000. It was $75,000 in this year’s budget.

The borough also plans to spend about $220,000 on street paving. This year, $285,000 was in the budget for road resurfacing.

The park improvement budget also was slashed to $7,000, down from $13,500 this year.