Property taxes aren't going up, nobody's dipping into savings to make ends meet, and there's even a little more money to put more police officers on the streets.

In all, there's not much in the way of drama in the 2007 budget of $704.3 million proposed yesterday by Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who will be running for re-election next year.

If approved by County Council, the budget would be the third straight without a property tax increase, following $7 million in tax cuts in 2004. It also would mark the third straight year Mr. Onorato has balanced the budget without dipping into county reserves.

"This plan continues the fiscal discipline I have employed over the past three years to ensure that Allegheny County's finances remain on solid ground," he said during his annual budget address to council.

The proposed budget is $26.8 million more, or 4 percent higher, than the spending plan adopted for 2006. But once the final accounting is done for 2006, the new budget would be only $11.8 million, or 1.7 percent, more than total spending this year, Mr. Onorato said.

He said he was able to balance the budget without raising taxes in a year the county dumped regular reassessments for a base year system predicated on 2002 values.

School districts and municipalities, some of which have complained about the base year system, should take note of that, he said. "We're not asking them to do anything different than what we're doing," he said.

The proposed budget also includes Mr. Onorato's plan to eliminate chronic deficits at the Kane regional nursing homes, in part by adding new services, cutting 210 beds and eliminating 110 jobs through attrition. He said the changes would enable the Kanes to break even this year, next year and into the "foreseeable future."

Not everybody is sold on the proposed changes, however. Councilman Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park, questioned whether curbing the deficits would be a simple matter of cutting beds. He also wondered about the cost of a proposed marketing campaign and whether it would compete against the private sector.

But he added he's keeping an open mind.

"This is the biggest black mark on the budget. If we can turn it, it's big news," he said.

The proposed budget adds 5.5 percent, or $1.3 million, to county police spending, to reflect the hiring of 37 officers.

Jail spending would increase $2.35 million, to $47.4 million. Mr. Onorato also is adding $1 million to the Health Department budget to help cover the cost of jail inmate medical care. Those costs are funneled through the agency's budget, and some health managers have complained the expenses have siphoned money from public health programs like restaurant inspections, a claim Mr. Onorato disputed.

His budget also increases spending in the human services area by 9.3 percent, or $15 million.

All totaled, the biggest part of the proposed $704.3 million budget, 47.7 percent, would go to health and welfare.

The biggest chunk of revenue, 45.2 percent, would come from taxes. Another 23.5 percent would come from the state and 16.2 percent from the federal government.

Mr. Onorato also proposed a $57.5 million capital budget funding 85 projects. They include renovations to the ski slope at Boyce Park, upgrades to the Hartwood mansion and a new indoor recreation facility at Settler's Cabin Park.