The Schuylkill County Commissioners have a few weeks to determine if there are any more budget cuts they can make to reduce an anticipated 3.5-mill property tax increase in 2025.

The increase was projected in the county’s tentative 2025 budget approved last week.

Commissioner Chairman Larry Padora said at the commissioners’ weekly meeting Wednesday morning that he has been scrutinizing the budget looking for more ways to save money or increase revenues.

“I have been looking at the budget, line by line,” Padora said. “All I do is look at the budget. Health care (increases) and 9-1-1 are the biggest drivers. We need health care, and we can’t shut down 9-1-1.”

Padora said unfunded mandates from the state puts the onus on counties to come up with the revenue to pay for those mandated expenses.

Revising how much the county gets from inheritance tax could raise revenue, Padora said.

“I was at the county commissioners conference recently,” Padora said, “We are lobbying for new revenue sources.”

One new revenue source identified is the UPI Parcel Certification Fee Schedule.

A UPI Parcel Certification Fee refers to the cost associated with verifying and certifying a “Uniform Parcel Identifier” number on a real estate document, typically charged by the recorder of deeds office in a county, with the fee varying depending on the jurisdiction but usually ranging between $10 and $20 per UPI number certified; essentially, it’s the fee to ensure the parcel identification number on a document is accurate and matches county records.

Next week, the commissioners are anticipated to vote to increase the fee from $10 to $20 per parcel effective Jan. 1.

Christine Zimmerman, the chief county tax assessor, told the commissioners the $10 charge per document went into effect Feb. 3, 2003, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Uniform Parcel Identifier Act of 1988 and the Schuylkill County Implementation Ordinance.

Zimmerman said there are about a dozen counties who have or are thinking or raising the fee.

“I have done research on the other counties in Pennsylvania,” Zimmerman said. “Those counties charging $20 per parcel include, but is not limited to: Carbon, Crawford, Dauphin, Fayette, Fulton, Huntington, Lawrence, Luzerne and Perry. Those counties working on increasing the UPI fee from $10 to $20 would include, but not be limited to: Cumberland, Warren and York.”