Cambria County’s independent audit reveals the county has cut about $8.6 million in debt since 2016.

The county ended fiscal year 2017 with a $803,472 surplus in the general fund.

County officials credit the success to proper budgeting and cutting costs.

“We weren’t overestimating revenue. We weren’t underestimating expenses, so we were dealing with real numbers,” said Ed Cernic Jr., the controller for Cambria County.

The county still has about a $48 million dollar long-term debt to pay off. They expect that debt to drop to about $36 million by the end of 2019.