Radnor OKs draft $34.5M budget, no tax hike
Township to borrow $4.5M for sewer work
RADNOR >> With little discussion, the Radnor Board of Commissioners Monday voted to approve the manager’s recommended $34.5 million budget for 2019 with a caveat that there will be many changes before the final budget is approved by December.
Although there is a $340,000 shortfall, officials do not expect to raise real estate taxes.
The board took longer to discuss a proposal to borrow $4.5 million through a 10-year loan from Republic Bank at 3.25 percent interest.
Dan Kozloff, managing director with the township’s financial adviser, PFM, said that requests for proposals went out to 12 banks for the loan and Republic offered the best deal. The township will be able to prepay the loan without penalty to provide “maximum flexibility.”
Finance Director William White said the loan will be used to repay the general fund, which loaned money to the sewer fund for several emergency sewer line repairs. The BOC may decide next year to take out a bond to cover the cost of repairing the aging sanitary sewer system, and this bank loan could be rolled into that bond offering.
Homeowners also will see another 10 percent rise in their sewer rent fee in 2019 and another 10 percent in 2020. Those increases were approved by the BOC in 2017.
Commissioner Sean Farhy asked whether the loan should be made through the sewer fund itself, rather than the general fund, since that is what the money will be used for. White told him the general fund offers advantages because the loan will be backed by the township’s credit and taxing authority so a lower interest rate can be secured.
Resident Jane Galli asked if the loan would be paid back through the sewer fund and was told it will be.
The BOC voted 5-1 to approve an introduction to the loan ordinance, with Commissioner Richard Booker voting no due to a quibble with the wording. Commissioner Jake Abel abstained because his wife is employed by Cozen O’Connor, the legal firm drawing up the paperwork for the township on the loan. Commissioner John Nagel was absent.
The BOC also listened to presentations from community groups that it traditionally contributes to, asking that their funding be renewed for 2019. However, it took no action on those requests.
The Radnor Fire Company asked for the largest amount, an additional $250,000 to hire more paid firefighters and emergency medical technicians above the $200,000 the township budgeted.
Eamon Brazunas, administrative director, spoke about the difficulties all volunteer fire companies are facing across Pennsylvania with securing enough volunteers to keep the firehouses staffed at optimal levels.
“We’re a proud volunteer organization, but we’re going to need additional funding for paid staff,” Brazunas said.
Radnor Fire Company responds to about 3,000 calls a year, including medical, fire and water rescue. Most of the calls are during the day when volunteers work paid jobs, he said.
Shade Tree Commission Chairwoman Eileen Brett asked the BOC to provide $1 million needed to remove dead and dangerous trees and also plant new trees. The township’s shade trees are now being listed and catalogued, and the township is home to numerous ash trees that are dying from infestations of the Emerald Ash Borer.
The budget includes $960,000 for the Radnor Memorial Library; $130,000 for the Wayne Senior Center; $150,000 for Surrey Services; $17,500 for the Wayne Art Center; and $15,000 for the Radnor Historical Society. Representatives from all those organizations talked about their organizations and the good that they do.
Chris Todd, president of the Wayne Business Association, spoke about the need for improvements to downtown to help businesses there compete with other nearby shopping areas like the King of Prussia Mall.
Township Engineer Steve Norcini said that a new streetscape would cost about $3 million.
Todd, meanwhile, said the Wayne Business Overlay District is a “$281 million economic engine” that provided $1.2 million in mercantile taxes to the township in 2017, for example.
“Reinvesting in your business district will really help you,” said Todd.
Cheryl Brubaker, executive director of the Women’s Resource Center, which did not receive township funds last year, spoke about her organization’s founding some 43 years ago when five
women took out an ad in the old Suburban and Wayne Times (this publication’s predecessor) and 35 women showed up. Since then, the WRC has grown to 200 volunteers and four staff members and offers 4,500 services annually to more than 2,400 women and girls. It relies on donations and grants for its $410,000 budget.
Brubaker played a video where a woman spoke about getting help from the center after she left her husband, an addict, and can now provide for her five children on her own after learning carpentry.
The BOC is expected to adopt the final 2019 budget on Dec. 10.