Chartiers approves tentative budget with no tax increase
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Residents of Chartiers Township, as they have for the last 21 years, will be paying taxes based on the same millage rate.
The supervisors approved a tentative 2015 budget that keeps the real estate tax at nine mills. Jodi Noble, township manager, said the average value of a home in the township is $142,900, meaning the homeowner would pay $321.53 in real estate taxes.
But starting next year, the township will rely less on the $900,000 it receives in tipping fees from the Arden landfill to fund general expenses and instead use that money for capital or other one-time expenses. Noble said the amount the township gets in those fees is almost double the $550,000 real estate taxes bring in.
“We are going to start weaning away from that money,” Noble said. “A large portion of our income is from the landfill, but that is an uncertain revenue stream.”
“We are looking at long-term planning and want to be financially responsible into the future,” she said. “We are going to start to use that money more for capital expenditures than operating costs. It will be difficult to do, but that money could go away at any time. We don’t want to have to depend on it.”
She said the township will use 25 percent less of the tipping fees this year for operating expenses.
The income from Act 13 is another funding source the township uses for capital improvements, for much the same reason as the tipping fees.
“We use it for capital expenditures like paving Allison Hollow Road,” Noble said.
The $3.259 million budget includes money for more road repair projects.
“We are almost doubling what we are doing next year,” Noble said. “The township’s infrastructure is getting older. We are increasing the amount we spend from $130,000 to $200,000.”
Noble said the township also is purchasing generators for use at the fire hall and the community center.
“Those two buildings can be used as shelter during an emergency evacuation,” Noble said. “We would use the community center first in an effort to keep fire operations separate, but we could use the fire hall in a larger emergency.”
The township will continue contributions to the volunteer fire department and Chartiers-Houston Library.
The supervisors will adopt the final budget Dec. 30.