Property taxes will not go up to balance the proposed 2006 Murrysville budget.

Council unanimously voted Dec. 7 to advertise the $13.36 million budget for final passage this month, after meetings and discussions that began in mid-November.

They included a line item examination of the spending plan at a Nov. 30 workshop and a public hearing and continued council discussion last week.

A budget must be in place by the end of the year. Council could vote as early as its regular meeting Dec. 21.

There had been little council enthusiasm for a previously proposed 1.25-mill increase to balance the package of $9.63 million in operating expenses and $3.73 million for the first year of a five-year capital spending plan. Council members looked hard at planned expenditures and long-range projects to keep taxes at 11.15 mills.

A 2-mill hike had been anticipated back in September when the capital-spending program had its first public hearing.

Council identified a $160,000 carryover and some $65,000 in bond refinancing to help avoid the tax increase. Murrysville will also tap an unspecified amount of reserve funds, while maintaining general fund reserve requirements and make interdepartmental and between fund transfers.

Council's detailed examination and discussion of budget items identified areas where the municipality will have to keep closer watch and manage better to avoid future tax increases -- pension and health care for employees and fuel and asphalt costs.

Getting control of workers' compensation cost increases was of specific interest to Councilman Dennis Pavlik.

According to Diane Heming, finance director and acting chief administrator, the higher costs are due "not to a single catastrophic event but to multiple small situations."

The use of bond funds for large projects was another issue for Pavlik.

"With bond issues we can do projects now and the people who'll use them in the future will pay them back. As Mayor [Joyce] Somers has said, we need to always look to the future costs of any project we undertake as well as the specific cost of the project."

Council also will explore using in-house engineering and technical support versus contracting out.

The money is already in the budget to go either way. This year Murrysville used the Glenn Engineering firm as engineers on many projects and plans to do the same for at least the coming year, while better management and planning is done. The finance department will continue to track and compare in-house and contracted services.

Another area that will get close scrutiny is allocation of public works department time spent on the Municipal Community Park and other parks.

Since public works and parks have now been separated into individual departments, the finance office will carefully watch time and expenditure allocations between them. About three-fourths of the $4 million bond for Phase I community park development has been spent so far.