Kennett Township officials hold the line on taxes

KENNETT TOWNSHIP >> There will be no tax increase in Kennett Township.

A tax hike last year to pay for emergency services brought upset residents out to several township meetings. But the supervisors’ confidence then that the increase would cover the township’s police force for the foreseeable future seems so far to have been justified.

In fact, Township Manager Lisa Moore foresees a 13 percent decrease in general fund expenditures from the year before. The 2019 budget, which passed unanimously at the township supervisors’ meeting Wednesday night, foresees general-fund revenues of $4.1 million and expenditures of $3.1 million.

Moore said the township saved money because an events coordinator left and they plan on cutting back grant development work to focus on currently applied-for grants. The township also expects some increase in earned-income tax revenue, she said.

Popular projects such as the Chandler Mill Bridge rehab and

the installation and upgrades of trails in the township will take place with substantial grant assistance,

Moore said. Grants are also expected to cover the cost of the proposed Five Points roundabout, she said.

Scudder Stevens, chairman of the board of supervisors, told the attendees there had been a recent situation in the multi-municipality

effort to improve the efficiency of emergency services delivery in the area that he wanted to explain.

The Longwood Fire Company had made a proposal to consolidate ambulance services that Stevens felt was somewhat premature, given the state of the discussions, so he voted against it.

Stevens was able to discuss and clarify his feelings about the proposal with A.J. McCarthy, fire chief of Longwood, he said. But McCarthy, who also attended the supervisors’ Wednesday night meeting, explained that misinformation started spreading in the public through social media, with some people saying the proposal would

hurt ambulance coverage in the area.

Longwood decided to withdraw the proposal, which it still viewed as helpful, McCarthy said, and to continue with the status quo for the time being.

In other business, the supervisors voted to allow PennDOT to set up an adaptive signal system on the traffic signals the township owns along Route 1. The system would allow PennDOT to take over the signals to improve traffic flow in case of congestion, a serious accident, or the need to detour traffic. Moore and Police Chief Lydell Nolt agreed that the change would be likely to improve traffic in the area.