Budget to hold line on taxes

LOWER POTTSGROVE >> Township taxpayers looking to start off 2017 on a positive note need look no further than their mailbox.

Not only does the $6.1 million draft township budget call for no increase in property taxes in the coming year, the annual cost of trash collection is actually going down.

Granted, its only going down by $10, but down is better than up.

The new three-year contract with J.P. Mascaro lowers the annual fee from $147.50 to $137.50.

The contract also allows for an extension of up to two years.

Township Manager Ed Wagner said revenues for 2017 are expected to drop by about 1.8 percent, noting that the drop comes mostly from reduced earned income tax receipts.

Luckily, the township’s expenses are dropping by almost the exact same 1.8 percent, due mostly to retirements of more senior, higher paid employees, he said.

Wagner said the township faces an increase of 6 percent in health insurance costs, this on top of a 3.5 percent increase last year.

And there is still there is a budget gap — nearly $300,000 — which the commissioners will pull from reserves to balance the budget and avoid a tax hike.

Last year, for the first time in four years, the commissioners enacted a 2016 budget that raised taxes by 22 percent.

The 2017 budget, which the township commissioners voted unanimously to advertise at the Nov. 17 meeting, maintains the millage rate of 2.708 mills.

And for those households that are part of the township sewage system, there is also good news.

The quarterly sewer rate will remain $136 per quarter for 2017, said Wagner.