DUBOIS – “I think this will be one our largest budgets overall,” said Sandy Township Manager Dick Castonguay.
The 2010 draft budgets for Sandy Township and the Sandy Township Municipal Authority have been handed over to the township supervisors. It will be made available for public posting Friday.
The township budget comes in at $9.45 million with a projected income of $3,565,950. The municipal authority budget comes in at $4,702,500.
The largest expense in the budget comes from the West Sandy water project that is currently under way.
An update was given on that project revealing
15-20, roughly half, of the property owners still need to sign allowances for the township to use their easements before it can continue.
Because of this one time expense the township could just about avoid any tax increase this year if it were limited to its own expenses.
“This budget includes a .5 mill increase due to contractual obligations with the EIT Committee and the ongoing Treasure Lake situation,” said Castonguay.
The Treasure Lake situation being the ongoing legal battle over whether the gated community can break away to be its own borough or remain a part of
Sandy Township.
The Earned Income Tax Committee is a state mandated committee with the intent to streamline the earned income tax collection. One complaint made a few times by Castonguay is the committee itself receives no funding from the state government. Instead the committee will be funded by the representative communities.
This raises the total millage for the township to 15 mills. The general millage will rise to 12. Millage dedicated to the fire department will remain at 2.5. The library’s dedicated millage will remain at .5, or the same as the increase.
“Last year we had to raise our taxes. This year I’d like to hold the line. Everyone else is tightening their belts. So should we,” said Supervisors Jim
Jeffers.
Jeffers felt that it was early enough yet that the township could avoid the .5 millage increase.
The draft budget for the municipal authority is $1.804 million for the sewer portion. $2.898 million for the water side.