UNION TOWNSHIP, PA. Supervisors will adopt tight budget for 2004

The secretary-treasurer said expenses have been cut.
BY MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- No tax increase is planned although Union Township's 2004 budget will be tight, officials say.
Union Township supervisors will meet Dec. 17 to adopt a final budget for next year. The township has not raised taxes for the past 13 years.
The proposed 2004 budget, slightly lower than this year's, was unveiled at a special meeting recently. Supervisors Kenneth Guinaugh and Clair Damon voted to adopt it, and Supervisor Steve Galizia voted no.
Galizia said he believes the estimated 2004 property tax revenues listed in the budget are about $25,000 too high.
In addition, he said the budget projects a $5,000 carry-over from 2003 into 2004. But Galizia said the township will be lucky to break even this year.
He said he is also concerned that the year-end carry--over balance has shrunk to almost nothing.
He said at the end of 2001, $246,000 was carried over into 2002. At the end of 2002, $89,000 was carried over to this year. But those reserve funds have been depleted because they have been used for current expenses.
Liquid fuels fund
He said the township would have run out of money if it were not using liquid fuels funds to pay some wages for road workers. Liquid fuels money is derived from taxes on gasoline and can be used to pay road-related expenses.
Although the township is allowed to use liquid fuels funds to pay road workers, Galizia said the money could have been used for other needs or kept in reserve. The funds, he said, are generally used for street paving, but no paving was done this year in the township. He said that township streets are generally in good condition, although a few need work.
Secretary-Treasurer Sally Byler said she consulted with tax collectors and tax records in estimating next year's tax revenues. She said that the approximately $123,000 the township receives annually from liquid fuels funds is allowed to be used for road department wages.
She also said expenses have been cut in light of the tight budget situation. She said that several workers were put on seasonal layoff earlier than usual this year and that a clerical worker was cut to three days per week. In addition, the positions of assistant roadmaster and police secretary have been cut.
Police contract
One other concern is how the new police contract, now under negotiation, will affect the budget if a wage increase is granted. The proposed budget does not include an increase for police wages.
Byler said if a wage increase is given to police, a tax increase will be needed.
The proposed budget also includes a 60-cent per hour increase for about 10 workers in the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, which represents clerical and road workers. Those increases were negotiated earlier in a multiyear contract.