West Rockhill falling short of budget

As they begin to prepare for next yHDr’V EuGJHW, :HVW 5RFNKLOO RIficials are pinching pennies.

“So far this year, we have cut expenses by 7 percent,” Township Manager Greg Lippincott said at the Aug. 15 West Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors meeting. “The bad news is that our revenues are off by 14 percent.”

That leaves the township with about $120,000 less income as of Aug. 1 than it had by the same date last year, Lippincott said.

Much of the difference is in the amount received from the earned income tax and local services tax, he said. The change in earned income tax collectors for the new system under which the same agency collects the tax for every municipality in the county may have led to a delay in collecting the EIT, Lippincott said, but the economy could also be leading to the decrease.

Building permits are another area where the township is running behind budget. That’s not an immediate problem because there are major projects in the works for Rockhill Mennonite Community, Hidden Meadows on the Ridge and Perkasie Regional Authority, Lippincott said.

“We know we have those three big projects out there and we’ll get those sooner or later, but after that there’s nothing out there,” Lippincott said.

In recent months, the township planning commission has sometimes canceled its meetings because it had no development plans to be reviewed.

“That will be a concern for the 2013 budget,” Lippincott said. “You’re going to have a problem when it comes to building permits next year.”

West Rockhill’s budget about $2 million. In other matters: • “:H DrH nRw Rn 7wLWWHr,” 3Hnnridge Regional police Chief David Mettin said.

If there are emergencies or alerts, the department’s followers on Twitter can immediately get the alert, he said.

West Rockhill has also started a Twitter account, Lippincott said.

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In answer to a question of whether those not on Twitter would get the information in the tweets, Lippincott said the information will also continue to be distributed in other ways already being used, including the township website.

“It will not be the only way to get the information out,” Lippincott said. “It’s just another way.”

Since

most

people don’t look at the website every day, tweets will get the information out more quickly in an emergency, he said.

Pennridge Regional Police Department can be followed on Twitter @ Pennridgepd. West Rockhill Township can be followed @WestRockhill.

The Holiday House Pool already uses its Facebook page to alert people when the pool is closed because of rain, Jeff Markley, chairman of the joint Sellersville and West Rockhill commission that oversees the pool, said.

• $ SODQQHG $UJ. 15 vote on updates to the township’s storm-water management plan ordinance was postponed until October to give the board more time to review it.

“The changes are extensive and you gotta read more than just the changes to understand what the changes are,” Don Duvall, board chairman, said.