Tax Realty Consultant

Lower Makefield residents are bracing for the highest township property tax increase in 17 years.

At Wednesday night’s meeting, the township supervisors are expected to pass a 2008 budget with an increase of 2 mills, or about $80 for a resident with a property assessed at the township average of $40,000.

Some of the reasons for the proposed increase are a 4 percent salary increase for employees next year, a 7.8 percent increase in health insurance costs, a drop in the money the township gets from the realty transfer tax and the addition of three new police officers for 2008, said township Manager Terry Fedorchak.

At the Dec. 5 meeting, police Chief Ken Coluzzi said the additional officers are sorely needed. The township has a total force of 34, including 23 patrol officers, much too small for the township’s population of 33,000, said Coluzzi.

There are .68 patrol officers for every 1,000 residents, way below the northeast United States average of 1.8 for municipalities with populations below 100,000, he added. Also, the township has gotten bigger and busier, with the number of police calls going from 9,626 in 2000 to 12,601 in 2006, Coluzzi said.

“There was a study done in 1995 that projected we should have 39 total police officers in 2004, and we’re still well short of that,” he said. “On many shifts now, we have only three officers patrolling the entire township, and that is not a good situation.”

After going through police academy and inter-department training, the three new officers will probably not be ready to start normal patrols until sometime after June of next year, said Coluzzi. They will start at annual salaries of $42,000, he added.

In addition to the three new officers, someone will be hired to make up for the retirement of Detective Sgt. Henry O’Brien, who is stepping down Jan. 15. While there is a good chance he will be replaced from within, that still causes a staff decrease somewhere down in the ranks that must be made up for with another hire, said Coluzzi.

The personnel situation also will be helped when patrol officer Todd Hamski returns from a deployment in Iraq with the Air Force Reserve. That isn’t expected to happen until at least the middle of next year, Coluzzi said.

Fedorchak said he’s working through the weekend to find $100,000 more in cuts, but that won’t result in lessening the tax increase. It will allow the township to only achieve the recommended surplus of $465,000 in the general fund by the end of next year. That’s about 5 percent of the total 2008 general fund amount of $9.3 million, with 5 percent being the “safe harbor” recommended by auditors as a hedge against emergencies, Fedorchak said.

Money from the realty transfer tax, funds the township gets when properties are sold, have decreased from $1.9 million in 2005 to a projected $1.45 million next year, he said.

“That’s a significant drop in a very important source of revenue,” said Fedorchak.

Despite the explanations, township resident Bob Slaman was alarmed by the proposed tax increase. He criticized township officials for paying about $5,000 to $6,000 more a year in electricity costs to get 10 percent of its power from wind. The supervisors have said it’s worth it to set an environmental example.

“That’s an abuse of taxpayer money,” Slaman said. “They also spend too much money on consultants, like the one on Edgewood Village. This is great big [tax] increase. It’s horrendous.”

Another resident, Zachary Rubin, said the proposed increase is reasonable.

“With this increase, I’ll end up paying about $6 more a month in township property taxes,” he said. “If I can help increase safety in the township with three new police officers and provide good raises to township employees for $6 more a month, I’m satisfied with that.”

Supervisors Chairman Ron Smith said the board started with a proposed increase of 3 mills and worked hard to whittle it down during three budget workshop meetings.

“It’s the best we could do without cutting into basic services,” he said. “I think the increase was necessary and, in return for that, we’re maintaining services at least at current levels and adding new police officers. I think past boards of supervisors have failed to anticipate build out approaching [and resulting decrease in fees] and the drop in realty transfer taxes, and as the result of that nonfeasance we’ve had to take steps to address the shortfall in revenues. The police department has also been understaffed for years, and in that area, too, we’re trying to make up for what past boards failed to do.”

Supervisor Pete Stainthorpe urged township administrators to keep a constant eye on items like police overtime, which will amount to about $200,000 this year, or about $30,000 over budget, according to Fedorchak. He said the public works department, the other major source of overtime, will spend about $45,000 of its budgeted $50,000 for overtime this year, but it could be more if there is a lot more snow and ice before the end of the year.

“I’m not suggesting for half a second they don’t do a good job, but we need to take a hard look at that,” Stainthorpe said of the overtime.

Fedorchak said he and other administrators always try to minimize overtime and will continue that.

“The overall activity level, number of calls and all that, has increased significantly in the community and thus in the police department and that is what drives overtime,” said Fedorchak.

He said projects like a proposed township soccer complex and more work on Memorial Park on Woodside Road are on indefinite hold unless the supervisors approve another bond issue or other revenue sources, like grants, are found.

“There’s no way to finance those things with the revenues available,” said Fedorchak.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/246-12162007-1457072.html