Northampton passes $30.4 million budget for Fiscal Year 2021

By Ted Shockley

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The Northampton County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night unanimously approved a $30.4 million budget for Fiscal Year 2020-21 that includes no new tax increases.

The county cut its original budget plan by $1.2 million amid economic slowdowns from the novel coronavirus.

“In order to balance the post-COVID-19 budget, the county and schools deferred pay adjustments and reduced other expenses,” said Director of Finance John Chandler in an e-mail.

The budget passed by supervisors included a 2.5 percent reduction for all outside agencies except first-responder agencies.

Northampton County Public Schools will receive $8.9 million from the county in FY21, down $91,736 from last year.

The school system had asked for $9.3 million for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Separate from the budget, and based on the county’s recent real-estate reassessment, supervisors had to raise the real-estate tax rate a half-penny to equalize the rate. It had been 83 cents per $100 in valuation.

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