Kennett Township supervisors are expected to decide Wednesday whether to include in next year’s budget a tax increase for future capital projects.

The 0.2-mil increase would mean an average annual increase of $49 for residents, according to township Finance Director Amy Heinrich. (A mil is $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value.)

The supervisors are scheduled to approve the proposed budget for advertisement on Wednesday, following previous meetings that looked at everything from general fund revenue to police and public works, sewer fund, and the beginning of a capital project plan. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., and residents can either attend in person or join the Zoom meeting.

The final 2022 budget needs to be approved by the end of the year; the supervisors will hold a special meeting during the last week of the year to formally adopt the budget and the tax rates.

Draft budget information can be found on the township website, kennett.pa.us.

At the Nov. 17 meeting, which was recessed after several hours and resumed the following day, supervisors and township staff discussed among other things the creation of a capital plan. The proposed tax increase would help raise funds for an estimated $5 million of major capital expenses that could happen in 2023, according to Heinrich.

In the draft operating budget, capital expenses, such as audio/video equipment for the township meeting room and final design engineering for the Chandler Mill Road project, would now appear in the capital plan.

“We’ve really gone through and made sure that some of the things that were in operating really belong in capital, and we’re making sure they’re there,” Heinrich said, describing the capital plan as a wish list of the “known/requested projects over the next five years with offsetting known grants.”

One example is the funds for oil and chip improvements to township roads, something that she said would normally appear in the public works operating budget. “That’s a capital improvement to a road … it’s not that we’re cutting that; it’s just going in capital where it belongs with major road projects.”

Heinrich said it is all designed to “accurately show” the township’s operating budget, what the operating surplus is, and what’s left for capital each year.

“We have a huge capital list in future years,” Heinrich said. “If you want to fund capital over the years, you need to have excess revenue. Right now, we have a wish list just looking at general capital … over $5 million in 2023.”

Some of the 2023 capital projects on the “wish list” include $868,000 for the Five Points roundabout, more than $276,000 in road maintenance and resurfacing, another $250,000 for the Ways Lane realignment, and $3.5 million in trails projects.

Capital projects for 2022 – which could include about $1.14 million in road maintenance and resurfacing, stormwater and trails projects, information technology upgrades, and some improvements to the township building – would be funded in part by the 2021 operating fund surplus.

“We can afford 2021 transfers that will help pay for 2022, and we can afford what we have in 2022,” Heinrich said. “My fear is that we can’t afford what we want to do in 2023. So to plan ahead, if we want to be building a reserve in capital to afford those, you have to start somewhere … I’m asking if you want to put away funds for 2023.”

“I hope people realize how much more cognitive we are in terms of where we’re spending and how we’re looking at the long-term financial health for the township,” supervisors’ Vice Chairwoman Whitney Hoffman said. “We need to make sure we’re doing good things now to set the township up for long-term success.”

Current township taxes for township residents are 1.9 mils for emergency services, 0.2 mils for the general fund, and 0.2 mils for library operating expenses.

“Increasing taxes is never easy,” supervisors’ Chairman Richard Leff said. “We have to be able to make sure it’s justified. I made that suggestion to be able to prepay some of those capital expenses.”