The talk at the Chadds Ford Township supervisors’ meeting this month was about money and the 2013 budget. The good news for property owners in the township is that there is no planned tax increase.
Next year’s proposed spending plan is balanced, but it uses a surplus of more than $100,000 from 2012 to do the balancing.
Expenses for next year are estimated at $734,661 while the projected income from all sources is $608,035. The difference will be made up from the funds carried over.
Township Manager Joe Barakat said the current surplus is the result of a mild winter where there was little to no snow plowing and the fact that there was only a small, relatively inexpensive road program in 2012. (A larger program that includes repairs to Oakland Road is under consideration for 2013, Barakat added.)
As is usual, the bulk of the projected income is from property taxes, estimated to total $245,540. The single largest expense will be salaries and benefits, projected to be $246,366.
There was no breakdown on those salaries per individual employee in the budget presented, but, by law, that breakdown is supposed to be made public.
Supervisors’ Chairman George Thorpe also said there are planned raises for employees. He didn’t know what they would be exactly, but did say there would be a 1.75 percent cost of living raise as well as an, as yet, undetermined merit increase.
The board expects to vote on the budget during its December meeting. State law requires the budget be available for public review for a minimum of 20 days before adoption. The budget will be advertised and copies made available at the township building. Barakat said there would also be a copy available on the Chadds Ford Township Web site.
If any changes are made that increase the spending by 10 percent or more, or raise a line item by 20 percent or more, then the budget would have to be re-advertised.
Also during the Nov. 7 meeting, supervisors voted to enter into a three-year contract with Keystone Collections for the collection of the Local Services and Business Privilege taxes. Keystone will be paid 1.35 percent of the LST collected and 3 percent of the BPT. The LST is a tax of $1 per week, or $52 per year, for a person employed by a business operating in the township.
There are other fees involved if Keystone needs to go after delinquent taxpayers.
It was the fact of those extra fees that led to a lengthy discussion over whether Keystone had read the township code on taxes. The code says that taxes, fees and penalties are to go to the benefit of the township.
Former township tax collector Bruce Prabel said it sounded as if Keystone was pocketing the extra fees. Solicitor Kathy Labrum, filling in for Hugh Donaghue, said extra money going to Keystone was for extra work and did not violate township code.
Labrum said Keystone is the tax collector for Chester County.
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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