Mercer County Commissioners will hold a special formal meeting on a $383 million budget funding county operations for 2023.
The special formal meeting on the adoption of the 2023 Mercer County budget is set for 6 p.m. Sept. 5 in the Mercer County Administration building at South Broad Street in Trenton.
The budget was first introduced in April.
“In the budget plan introduced to the Board of Commissioners, there were no proposed reductions in services,” said Julie Willmot, spokesperson for Mercer County.
The impact of the 2023 budget on a property owner’s tax bill will not be known until a county tax rate for each of the 12 municipalities is determined.
The county taxes a property owner pays will be determined by the county tax rate that is established for his/her municipality and the assessed value of their property.
County taxes are just one item on a property owner’s overall tax bill, which also includes municipal taxes and school taxes.
At the time of introduction, county officials projected $279 million to be raised from residential and commercial property owners in a tax levy.
In addition to $86 million in miscellaneous revenues which includes the use of $18 million from surplus (savings), $11 million from the Local Bridge Fund program, $8.4 million from the Trenton-Mercer Airport, $7.8 million from the county clerk’s office, and $4 million from Mercer Oaks Golf Course, according to budget documents.
The use of surplus is expected to increase by $11.5 million from the county’s 2022 budget.
The appropriations listed for 2023 included the following categories: $42.5 million for Department of Law and Justice (prosecutor’s office, county clerk’s office and sheriff’s office) and $42.3 million for group health insurance.
Additionally, $35.6 million on county debit service, $34.2 million for public safety, $19.2 million for community college, $17.1 million in lease rental payments, $16.3 million for transportation and infrastructure and $11 million towards the police and fireman’s retirement system.
