Township Council Passes $57 Million Budget

The Township Council April 14 gave its final blessing to a $57.2 million spending plan for 2015.

The budget is powered by a $37,388,103 tax levy, up about $1.1 million from the 2014 tax levy.

That translates to a 3 percent tax hike, which means the owner of a residential property assessed at the township’s average – $306,000 – will pay about $32 more per year for the local portion on their property tax bill.

The only line-item increase in the budget is $125,000 for two more police officers, who will be hired for the re-created community policing unit for Hamilton Street.

“We have worked hard these past several years” to keep costs down, Councilman Phil Kramer (D-Ward 3) said of the budget. “We have increased services while we have decreased spending to below 2009 levels.”

Casting the only “no” vote for the budget was Mayor Chris Kelly. Among the things Kelly objected to, he said, was using Open Space Trust Fund money to pay the salaries of DPW workers who will be maintaining the township’s parks.

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