Nov 11, 2014 4 min read

CANONSBURG – Canonsburg Borough Council on Monday passed a $4.9 million tentative budget for 2015 with a 1-mill increase. The property tax increase would cost the average Canonsburg homeowner an additional $11.50 a year.

Council approved the budget by a 4-3 vote. President John Bevec, Vice President Rich Russo, Fran Coleman and Joseph McGarry voted in favor. John Severine, Paul Sharkady and Tim Bilsky voted against the budget. It will come up for a final vote during the next meeting Dec. 8.

Russo said several factors necessitate a tax increase, including an increase in employee wages and health insurance costs. The borough will be switching from UPMC to Highmark by the end of the year, but Russo said insurance costs have gone up by more than 30 percent.

“The hike in the health care was roughly $40,000 of new cost to the borough,” Russo said. “You have annual contracted increases every year in wages, so we did give all the borough employees an increase, most of them by contract.”

Council also took into consideration a proposal by Canonsburg fire Chief Thomas Lawrence to hire a full-time firefighter who would be certified to conduct fire inspections. The borough currently does not have a fire inspector, and the 230-plus commercial buildings in Canonsburg have not been checked for safety compliance.

“I think we are behind the eight ball on that, and it’s affecting homeowner insurance coverages as far as rates,” Russo said.

Businesses would be charged between $75 and $125 for a fire inspection, depending on the size of the building, which Lawrence estimated would generate between $22,000 and $25,000 for the borough next year.

Severine questioned the need for a paid firefighter. He said the volunteer fire department in Carnegie Borough, which has a population comparable to Canonsburg’s, has 22 active volunteer firefighters and also maintains its own building without financial assistance from the borough. Canonsburg has about 18 active firefighters, and its fire department building is attached to the municipal building and funded by the borough.

Similarly, Bilsky voted against the budget because he does not see the need for a full-time firefighter. He also disagreed with council’s decision on Monday to hire two full-time police officers in lieu of a deputy chief.

“Hiring more full-time employees, which will undoubtedly raise costs in subsequent years, is not responsible when we have the opportunity to not only balance the budget without a tax increase, but have a surplus which we could use responsibly,” Bilsky said in an email.

Lawrence said during the meeting that his proposal would not benefit him personally, and would not solely benefit the fire department.

“My proposal is to move us into the new millennium,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got buildings in this town that nobody really knows what’s in them. We don’t even know if they are safe, if they aren’t safe.”

“I’m not trying to put a tax burden on Canonsburg Borough. I’m trying to do something that I honest to God believe is for the betterment of this department.”

Canonsburg Mayor Dave Rhome, who is also an assistant fire chief, voiced support for a tax increase if it meant aiding the fire department.

“I don’t believe 1 mill of tax is too much to pay for the safety of these residents,” Rhome said. “I applaud (Lawrence) and the department for wanting to move ahead and make this a safer town for our men. Until you’re a fireman, you don’t know what we walk in.”

The two part-time police officers who were approved for a full-time contract during Monday’s meeting were Thomas O’Rourke and Anthony Cancilla. Harold Coleman’s position as deputy chief will not be filled after he retires.