Towamencin finalizes 2025 budget with no tax, sewer increase

 A 2025 budget for Towamencin Township is now on the books, after a few final words on when the township’s next tax increase should happen.

“We spent the last few years telling our neighbors we must sell the sewer system, or else we’ll have to raise taxes and sewer rates. And this budget does neither,” said supervisor Kofi Osei.

2024 brought an end to the township’s long-running sewer sale debate, which started with a study in 2020, grew into a series of public presentations and pushback from residents in 2021, then resulted in a vote by four of the five supervisors at the time to sell the system in May 2022. Sale opponents led by Osei then took the board to court to try to stop the sale, citing steep rate hikes projected by the proposed buyer and revenues going to shareholders instead of local infrastructure, then won a series of votes establishing a government study commission and then a new township charter in 2023 that they argued made the sale illegal, and in August 2024 buyer PA American Water pulled out of the sale agreement.

In November township staff presented their draft 2025 budget with no tax or sewer rate increases — the first year since 2021 that neither will happen — and outlined the capital projects, park upgrades, new staff hires, and transfers between various funds included in that $18.1 million budget. The average annual tax bill for the average resident, based on an assessed property value of $160,000, would be $626 and the township’s $590 annual sewer bill is now payable in installments following adoption of a new billing platform this summer. During their final meeting of 2024, supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson outlined that presentation, before asking for a series of votes to finalize it.

“A few highlights include: no property tax increase, millage will remain at 5.6895 mills, no new borrowing planned in 2025, no sewer rental fee increase, and the homestead and farmstead exemption will remain at $50,000,” said Wilson.

After fellow supervisors Kristin Warner and Joyce Snyder made a motion and second to adopt the budget, Osei reiterated his reasons for voting against it.

    Towamencin’s board of supervisors discuss the proposed 2025 budget before voting to adopt it during their Dec. 11, 2024 meeting. From left to right are supervisors Joyce Snyder, Kristin Warner, Chuck Wilson and Kofi Osei, solicitor Bob Iannozzi and engineer Mary Stover. (Credit: Screenshot of meeting video)
  

“We need to be pricing in inflation and depreciation of our capital assets, and this budget does not do that,” he said.

“It is not fair to the residents, particularly the residents of the future, to have a huge 20 percent rate hike at once, instead of smaller increases every year, or every other year. But these 20 percent-plus tax hikes and sewer rate hikes have been the habit of this township,” Osei said.

He then proposed two conditions that would earn his vote for the budget, the first of which referenced the sewer sale debate.

“Send a township e-news(letter) that has an apology to me and our neighbors for voting to sell to American Water. We did not need to take that vote as a township, and we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars pushing through a sale that I told you wouldn’t go through,” he said.

The second request: remove a line item of $100,000 to cover engineering costs for proposed pickleball courts in the township, which Osei said was one of the projects cited by sale advocates as a possible use of the sale proceeds.

“Without a small tax hike, and without the sewer sale, we are not a township that’s going to spend a million dollars on pickleball courts anytime soon,” he said.

“I like pickleball, I played racquet sports in high school, I’d love to have a pickleball court in this township, but if we’re going to be fiscal conservatives, then we are not a pickleball township. And in the absence of those conditions, I am voting no,” Osei said.

Resident Joanne Andrews made a similar point in her public comments, citing a ’90s rock icon to do so.

“As Alanis Morrissette sang, ‘Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?’ That (after) all of our sewer battles, there is no sewer rate or tax increase this year, and the sale fell through?”

“Why is the township not requesting a small, incremental increase, creating a fund to cover the costs of future repairs? Even a small, one to two percent increase will raise much-needed additional funds for those long-term maintenance items, for a fraction of what a sale would’ve cost the residents,” she said. “Are you being short-sighted, or is this just a political stunt for those trying to hold on to supervisor positions next year? It’s a little ironic, I think.”

    Chart depicting annual debt service payments for Towamencin Township from 2025 through 2035, as presented to the township’s supervisors on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Screenshot of meeting video)
  

The board then voted three-to-one in favor of adopting the budget, with Osei voting against and supervisor Laura Smith absent; the same vote held for the 2025 millage rate ordinance, and Osei said he was “going to vote against the tax levy for the same reasons I voted against the budget;” he voted with the other three on the ordinance keeping the sewer rate flat for 2025, and on the 2025 homestead and farmstead exemptions, annual fee schedule, investment policy, and a loan from the sewer capital fund to the general fund to cover short-term expenses early in the year before tax revenues come in.

A separate item also related to the sale was discussed and approved: a motion amending the 2024 budget to transfer just over $658,000 from the general capital fund to the sewer operating fund, which Wilson said was meant to reimburse professional service fees related to the sale and comes from the deposit given to the township from the first buyer.

“This is the amount of the NextEra monies that we received from the cancelled sale, plus interest during that time,” he said. Osei then made the motion, and the other three approved.

Anther unanimous approval, for an item that will impact budgets beyond 2025: a new contract between the township and its police bargaining unit for Towamencin police officers, running through 2029.

“Highlights include wage increases ranging between 3.5 and 5 percent between 2025 and ’29; vacation time adjustments, increase to uniform and education allowances, increases to field training officer and sergeant pay, and increases to sick bonuses — those are bonuses for not using sick time, not bonuses for being sick,” Wilson said.

“We think this is a very fair contract, I believe the police department is happy with it, and we’re happy with it. I would think it’s a fair agreement to all, and we’d like to thank the police department for working with us, and working through it in a calm manner,” he said.

Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2025 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information visit www.Towamencin.org.

This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit https://www.thereporteronline.com