DUBOIS – On Monday night, the Sandy Township Supervisors voted, 3-2, to approve the tentative 2020 budget proposal with a 2.25-millage increase.
Supervisors Mark Sullivan, Kevin Salandra and Jim Jeffers voted in favor while Supervisors Dave Sylvis and Andy Shenkle voted in opposition.
Sylvis said the budget included a 1-mill tax increase for a building that hasn’t yet been approved and that he’s also not in favor of. He felt more cuts could be made to keep the budget under control.
Additionally, Sylvis opposed the creation of new tax categories that earmark incoming funds for equipment and the not-yet-approved municipal building project.
“We’re voting to raise taxes, [then] walking out of the office,” Shenkle said. He admitted that taxes should’ve been raised slightly over time because 2.25 mills at once seemed like a “punishment.”
The township’s budget proposal will now be placed on public display for a period of 20 days after which it will be considered for final adoption.
Also, the supervisors voted, 3-2, to apply for a PennDOT multimodal grant that, if awarded, would provide $235,000, or 70 percent of funds, for a sidewalk project along Maple Avenue.
Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh said because this project isn’t in the upcoming year’s budget proposal, it would be completed in 2021 or 2022.
Sullivan reported the talk of a joint municipal building with DuBois City was “off the table.” He said City Manager John “Herm Suplizio didn’t believe it was legal to have a building outside the city.
