2019 draft budget avoids tax hike

RADNOR >> Township officials presented the suggested

2019 budget that shows $34.5 million in revenue but also a

$340,000 deficit Monday. However, Township Manager Robert Zienkowski and William White, finance director, said a real estate tax increase will not be needed to close the gap. However, there will be a 10 percent sewer rent increase the board of commissioners had voted for in 2017 for each year for three years starting in 2018.

Zienkowski thanked the staff for their hard work on the budget and said the township employees are down to 127 fulltime workers from 136 in 2010. He also praised White, the finance department and the Citizens’ Audit Review and Financial Advisory Committee (CARFAC) for bringing the audit findings down from 28 issues to zero by last year.

During his presentation, White projected an increase in business tax revenue after a dip over the last two years, partly due to refunds.

While the sewer fee is going up, there is still a lot of work needed on the aging township sanitary sewer system, and the BOC will need to decide how to fund the fixes needed for that infrastructure, White said. At a previous meeting, the BOC nixed the idea of selling the sewer system to an outside entity. The stormwater fee will also remain unchanged.

White called the presentation “a 30,000-foot view” of the budget. There will be hearings on Oct. 29 and Nov. 19 to iron out details before the scheduled budget adoption on Dec.

10.

As for the $340,000 funding gap, the first since 2011, White said, “the township has significant cash balances to cover that for another year.”

The township does not expect to hire more employees, but its collective bargaining agreements call for 2¾ percent wage increases, he said.

The township also projects no increase in its health insurance costs, but it does plan to suspend payments to its other post-employment benefits (OPEB) for one year.

Sources for capital funding for the “pay as you use” or longterm projects have yet to be determined, White said. The township also has debt service on an open spaces and parks

$9.885 million bond that it took out in 2015 with an as yet to be determined fund source for $150,000 to $180,000, he said.