When Birmingham Township supervisors began their public discussion of the 2015 general fund budget, they started with the assumption that the current 1.6 mill property tax would remain the same. But that became questionable by the end of the Oct. 15 discussion.
As board members added to the anticipated expense side of the budget, Supervisor Bill Kirkpatrick noted that they increased projected spending by $46,000.
“That’s a tenth of a mill,” Kirkpatrick said. “Do we want to raise taxes 1.7 mills?”
There was no answer at the time, and no decision has yet been made. The board will know by its November meeting whether taxes have to be raised.
A mill is a tax of $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
As things stand at this point, projected revenue for next year is $2,030,000 with expenses estimated to be $1,484,000.
Among the increased expenses is an additional $12,000 for snow removal, from $120,000 to $132,000.
Supervisor Scott Boorse said weather projections indicate as much snow this winter as last year.
The largest expense is for the police department. That expense totals $548,000 with more than $330,000 going toward salaries. That breakdown is $90,500 for the police chief, $143,338 for full-time officers, and $98,000 for part-time officers.
Salaries and expenses for the township office staff amounts to $105,775.
On the revenue side of the ledger, supervisors are anticipating $740,000 coming in based on the current 1.6 mill township property tax. Another $76,000 is anticipated from the latest agreement with Comcast cable.
Permits and reporting fees are expected to bring in another $90,000 while vehicle code violations, ordinance violations, and false-alarm assessments are expected to bring in another $41,000.
The township hopes to pass an ordinance in November to advertise the budget for adoption in December.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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