Franklin Twp. approves budget; no tax increase proposed
WAYNESBURG – Franklin Township supervisors are expected later this month to adopt the municipality’s 2017 budget that includes a slight decrease in spending and no increase in property taxes.
The supervisors approved a tentative budget Nov. 23 listing spending at $1.89 million, which is slightly less than the current year budget of $1.953 million.
Spending will remain relatively stable; however, revenue from property taxes is expected to fall as a result of a decrease in the township’s total assessed value attributed to coal.
The township lost about $31 million in assessed value as a result of the reduction in the value of coal with the closing of the Emerald Mine, Supervisor Corbly Orndorff said. The township’s total assessed value for 2017 is set at $259 million.
The amount of money the township expects to receive from earned income taxes, on the other hand, will remain relatively unchanged, he said.
The township should be able to hold the line on taxes, Supervisor Reed Kiger said, because it always includes a “little cushion” in its budgets to address uncertainties such as a reduction in revenue.
The township levies a 1.28-mill property tax. Of that, 0.75 of a mill is earmarked for the general fund, 0.17 of a mill for machinery and 0.36 of a mill for fire protection.
Property taxes in the township have remained unchanged since 1988, when the supervisors adopted a fire protection tax following approval of the tax in a ballot referendum.
The supervisors expect to approve the final budget Dec. 12.
On Tuesday, the supervisors awarded a contract for residential refuse collection to the current waste contractor, Advanced Disposal, which presented the low bid for the services.
As in past years, the township bid the service jointly with Waynesburg Borough. One other bid was presented by Mountain State Waste.
Under Advanced Disposal’s proposal, the currently monthly fee for curbside collection will increase from $11.98 to $12.47 next years. The fee will gradually increase to $13.77 in 2021.
The monthly fee for walk-up collection will increase from $16.98 to $18.71 next year and gradually increase to $20.65 in 2021; and the month fee for seniors, 65 and older, curbside collection will increase from $10.78 this year to $11.22 next year and gradually rise to $12.38 in 2021.
Mountain State Waste’s proposal called for a first-year increase for the curbside collection to $19 a month.