The Centre County Board of Commissioners voted yesterday to fund four major projects with a $15 million bond issue, which will require a property tax increase.

The resolution prompted Commissioner Keith Bierly to call yesterday the biggest day of decision for this board's term of office.

The bond issue will require that total property tax millage be increased about 5.21 mills in 1994, said Evan Smith, Centre County administrative services director.

This marks the first millage increase since 1988, when the county increased total millage from 19 to 27.5 mills, an increase of 45 percent. A mill is equal to one dollar for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value.

The resolution authorizes the county to spend money from its general fund on property value reassessment, the 911 system, computers and technology, and Centre Crest nursing home projects, said Donna Spicher, county fiscal operations analyst.

Millage will continue to increase until 1997 to a high of about 33.82 mills, according to a county planning document that outlines millage rates through the year 2018.

The resolution's passage represents the board's commitment to the bond issue, Spicher said. The board will receive payment from investment agencies in 6 to 8 weeks, she said.

Only the debt millage, which pays off principal and interest on the bond issue, will increase. The general millage, which goes to county operating costs, must remained fixed at 25 mills.

Board Chairwoman Vicki Wedler, who opposed the resolution, said she took issue with the cost of property tax reassessment and the haste of the board's decision to renovate the Centre Crest nursing home.

"The county cannot afford to shoot from the hip on decisions of this magnitude where taxpayers will suffer," she said in a prepared statement.

The nursing home project will renovate the central and east wings of Centre Crest and involve new construction, Bierly said. Its capacity will grow from 223 to 240 beds and its standards will meet state guidelines, he said.

The project will require $8.8 million of the $15 million bond issue, he said.

Bierly said the debate on Centre Crest, the only county-run nursing home, focused on alternatives such as selling the home to a private interest, changing the range of care services provided and working with another home, or renovating the current building.

"The constituents that I talked to wanted to keep it as a community entity," said Bierly, who voted for the resolution. Private-pay residents -- those not subsidized by the county -- will force the nursing home to maintain high standards, he said.

Commissioner Denny Sciabica, who voted for the resolution, said Centre Crest has not complied with state regulations for at least four years, and the previous board ignored the problem.

"This is one of the biggest problems, and one that's been on the back burner too long," he said. Sciabica said he is concerned about the growth of Centre County's elderly population and the problems of current residents who are county subsidized.

He said that by making an unpopular decision he is looking beyond future election campaigns and doing now what needs to be done.

But Wedler said she believes her two colleagues made up their minds on this issue a long time ago and were not interested in her alternatives. Wedler called the vote premature.

She said a better alternative would have been to talk to a non-profit social ministry planning to build a new nursing home facility in Pleasant Gap. A public/private partnership could have been worked out that would have been less expensive than renovating, she said.

"We should not be competing with the private sector," she said, referring to Centre Crest's tax-exempt status.

Sciabica said that the issue has been talked about for too long.

"(Wedler) has been wanting to study for a long time. How long can you wait?" he said. "At some point, somebody has to say, 'Let's straighten things up.' "

The reassessment project will attempt to make property taxes equitable throughout the county, said Spicher.

The computers and technology project will modernize outdated computer systems for many county offices, Bierly said. A local data systems agency will coordinate the county computer systems, he said.

The 911 project will bring emergency 911 service to the entire county, Spicher said.