In a split vote Tuesday, the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors approved a 2021 budget that nearly doubles the property tax rate.
The $13.8 million spending plan increases the township's millage rate from 4.5 mills to 8.49 mills, an 89 percent jump. [Calculate your tax here.]
[Several] last-minute expense cuts to the budget [were made] — eliminating a new Director of Zoning & Code Enforcement position that was slated for next year, nixing a $20,000 study for a new police building, reducing new police vehicles from three to two and reducing the road program by $50,000 — that were ultimately approved as part of the spending plan.
Supervisors Oxley, John Mack and Dennis Fisher voted in favor of the budget. Supervisors Philip Calabro and Kyle Davis voted against the measure, with Calabro noting that the revisions did not impact the tax rate increase*.
[Listen to all comments here.]
The full budget is available for viewing here.
Related Content:
- “Newtown Supervisors Approve Final 2021 Budget By a 3-2 Vote”; http://sco.lt/9KWKYa
- “Newtown Residents Voice Concern Regarding the Preliminary 2021 Budget”; http://sco.lt/5xuLTc
- “Dear Santa, Please Lower Taxes”; http://sco.lt/5KUby4
- “Newtown Township Supervisors Vote to Advertise the Preliminary/Proposed 2021 Budget”; http://sco.lt/4y6F6G
- “Newtown Township's Proposed Tax Increase Put Into Perspective”; https://bit.ly/unalarmingNTtax
- SURVEY RESULTS: “What Would You Cut From the Proposed 2021 Newtown Township Budget?”; https://johnmacknewtown.info/budgetcutsvy.html
*Despite Mr. Calabro’s assertion, the final budget DOES cut the tax rate proposed by the advertised preliminary budget, which would have raised taxes by 133%. The final approved budget not only reduced the average yearly increase in taxes from $240 to $160 for the average Newtown homeowner, it also ensures that our savings account (aka reserve fund) is sufficient to cover contingencies, which is something no other budget put forward to the Board did.
A resolution passed by the BOS previously has set the goal of maintaining a reserve fund of 8-10% of expenditures in order to ensure fiscal stability and maintain the township’s high credit rating.
The projected reserve fund for the approved budget is $1,199,998, which is 8.7% of expenditures versus 6.7% in the budget that was originally presented before the Board of Supervisors (BOS) for approval at the December 22, 2020, meeting.