Chadds Ford Township supervisors still haven’t adopted a budget for 2024 but that is expected to change next week. The board Wednesday night unveiled an updated proposed budget that reflects a reduction in general fund millage while reinstating a fire tax.
As reported last week, questions arose over the need for a separate fire tax during the Dec. 6 meeting. Instigating those questions was the request for more money from the Concordville Fire and Protective Assn. The fire company has been asking all the townships it serves for larger donations since all its costs are rising and the number of volunteers has dwindled to the point where more paid firefighters are needed to fill the void.
Concordville’s treasurer Dave Montville said Wednesday evening the fire company is currently solvent but is running a deficit of $600,000 per year and projections indicate that will go on for five years.
“If that continues, somebody else will own us,” he said.
Chadds Ford Township had a fire tax as a separate line item but that changed in 2012 when the tax was rolled into the general fund and removed as its own line item. At that point, Chadds Ford’s donation to the fire company was $65,000 per year. This year, however, the fire company asked for a total of $189,000 from Chadds Ford Township.
Supervisors instead proposed a separate fire tax of 0.11 mils. That would increase the contribution to $102,000, but that didn’t sit well with several residents. Supervisors then continued that meeting to Dec. 13 when another proposal was considered.
To offset an updated fire tax proposal of 0.065 mils as a separate item for next year, supervisors also proposed a reduction in the township property tax from 0.352 mils to 0.3195. (A mil is a tax of $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.)
Supervisors’ Chairman Samantha Reiner read the following statement:
“Funding for the fire company will be provided through a combination of tax collected by the township. Approximately $60,000 will be generated from the proposed Fire Tax and $40,000 in Local Services Tax (LST). Concordville Fire Co. has been extremely responsive to Chadds Ford’s efforts to strengthen our relationship and understand their current financial needs.”
More discussion followed regarding the fire company’s financial statements as well as curiosity about what brought about changes in the various iterations of the proposed budget during the last few weeks.
After all comments were made, Supervisors' Vice Chairman Frank Murphy — attending via Zoom — suggested not voting on the budget until the Tuesday, Dec. 19 meeting. Final millage rates will also be set at that meeting.
As the budget stood at the close of the Dec. 13 meeting, the township anticipates total revenues and expenditures to balance at $1,308,410, with $295,100 coming from a township property tax of 0.3195 mils (down from the previous proposal of 0.3525). Other millage rates include 0.0072 mils for Rachel Kohl Library, 0.166 mils for open space, and 0.067 mils in fire hydrant zones.
A copy of the proposed budget can be found here.
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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