The Chester County Commissioners unanimously approved the 2015 budget on Monday, Dec. 8, a spending plan that resulted in no tax increase for county residents.

The 2015 balanced budget calls for $432,499,283 in operating expenses and $89,531,813 for its capital budget. It includes a marginal increase in federal and state funding; approximately 41 percent of its operating revenues come from federal and state grants, which are budgeted to increase by $.06 million, less than one percent from 2014.

Monday’s commissioners’ meeting marked the last time Commissioners’ Chairman Ryan Costello would preside. Costello, who won the Sixth District congressional race, is scheduled to become a member of the U.S. House when he is sworn in on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.

Six Republicans vying to fill the vacancy will be interviewed by Chester County Court judges on Tuesday, Dec. 9, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom One of the Chester County Justice Center. The candidates are Michelle Kichline, John Primus, Leon R. Spencer Jr., Maureen Snook, Ann Duke, and Hudson Voltz.

The candidate who is selected – and who must come from the same party as Costello - will join Terence Farrell, the other Republican on the board, and Democrat Kathi Cozzone. The seat will come up for election in November.

“Serving as your county commissioner has been a humbling and rewarding experience,” Costello said. He said the eight years he spent in county government – four as recorder of deeds and four as commissioner - went by quickly.

Farrell and Cozzone both thanked him for his service and wished him well. “I have appreciated the way we all worked together,” Cozzone said.

Costello recused himself on a vote to lease an office in the historic courthouse to the U.S. House of Representatives, quipping that he promised he would not be an unruly tenant.

“We’re glad that you’re right down the street if we need some help,” Farrell added.

In other business, the commissioners voted to transfer ownership of the Chandler Mill Bridge to Kennett Township. The county-owned, two-way, one lane span has generated controversy about its future long before it was closed several years ago.

The county and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) had argued that the bridge, situated at the juncture of Chandler Mill and Bucktoe Roads, was unsafe and needed to be rebuilt and widened - a plan at odds with some residents who feared modernizing the bridge would mar the area's bucolic setting. They sought an “in-kind" replacement.

Last month, Kennett Township voted to take ownership of the 1910 bridge, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. A decision on the bridge’s fate, which could include rehabbing it or designating it for pedestrian-only access, will now rest with the township.

“Here we are at last,” said Costello of the transfer. “We should put a bow on it.”

The approved Chester County 2015 budget will be posted at www.chesco.org by Friday, December 12, 2014.