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December 26, 2009

Mahoning budget includes tax hike

By Nancy Lowry

Mahoning Township residents will have a tax increase in 2010.

The supervisors this week approved a $19,759,706 budget with a half-mill tax hike. The millage will go from 2.605 to 3.105, a boost of just over 19 percent.

According to township treasurer Gilbert Lucarelli, much of the increase is being attributed to costs involving the township’s police department.

Lucarelli estimates the average tax increase, based on a $10,000 assessed value, would be about $5.

Earlier this year, the supervisors voted to end a five-year partnership with Pulaski Township and create a separate department. The Northwest Lawrence Regional Police Department will end in January when the supervisors officially approve the ordinance that dissolves it.

The Mahoning Township Police Department will begin Jan. 1. It is expected to cost the township $164,118 next year.

Other budget expenses include $18,673,452 for sewers.

The township is under order from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to construct sewer lines and a treatment plant. Sewer line construction to serve 600 residents in the Hillsville and Edinburg areas will begin in the spring.

At the same time, the township will begin construction of a sewage treatment facility on Route 224 near the Mahoning River.

Sewer expenses could increase to $22 million if a license is issued for a casino on Route 422 near the Ohio border. Indiana-based Centaur already holds a license for a horse racing track. Including the complex in the sewer system will mean extending sewer lines along Route 422 and increasing the size of the treatment plant.

Even without the track and casino, the sewer expenses could leave the township with a deficit in excess of $28,000.

Lucarelli and the supervisors said they currently have a $6 million Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority loan, a $9.6 million low-interest loan from PennVEST and another $3 million in funding available.

Township officials are seeking additional loans, funding and grants from other sources.

“But we believe we will be able to begin the project by April,” Supervisor Gary Pezzuolo said.

Other tax rates remained the same. They include a 0.485 mill tax for fire protection, a hydrant fee of 13 cents for foot based on frontage, light taxes of 32 cents per foot frontage on developed lots and 8 cents per foot for undeveloped lots, a one-half percent local earned income tax for residents and a 1 percent earned income tax for nonresidents who work in the township.

There also is a $10 local services tax, a one-half percent real estate transfer tax collected for the Mohawk school district and a 1 percent real estate transfer tax collected for the Union school district.

Lucarelli said the township estimates it has an 86 percent to 87 percent collection rate on property taxes.

He noted no township employee will receive a raise in 2010, adding hospitalization and other insurance costs for 2010 will be lower than anticipated.

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