MAHONING TWP. Slight property tax increase pays for shared police department

The owner of an $80,000 home will have to pay $14.40 more per year.
HILLSVILLE, Pa. -- Mahoning Township residents will see their taxes rise slightly in 2005 because of the first full-year costs of supporting the new joint police department the township shares with Pulaski Township.
On Tuesday, supervisors unanimously approved a 0.18 mill increase, bringing police department millage to 0.70 mills. Township Treasurer Gil Lucarelli said this would cost taxpayers 18 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, $14.40 more per year for the owner of an $80,000 home. The township's share of the police department is $99,717 or half of the operating budget, with Pulaski paying the other half.
Supervisors also authorized Police Chief Jim Morris to apply for a grant to help with the cost of operating the department.
The only other significant increase in the budget, Lucarelli said, is a 15 percent increase in the cost of providing four full-time road maintenance workers with health insurance. The increase amounts to $6,000.
The police department was launched in October and is called the Northwest Lawrence Regional Police Department.
Tuesday, Patrolman Justin Houk was sworn in. His addition to the force, Chief Jim Morris said, brings the department to 24-hour coverage. The hiring of Houk, who is a veteran of the war in the Iraq, brings the force to four part-timers and two full-timers.
Sewage plan
Also Tuesday, supervisors said they received word from the Pennsylvania Department of Ennvironmental Protection that it has approved the township's Act 537 Sewage Facilities Plan. This clears the way for the township to proceed with a sanitary sewer project for 529 homes in Hillsville, Butch Estates, Hilltop and Edinburg south of U.S. Route 224, and a treatment plant near Edinburg. Later, 41 additional homes would be added in North Edinburg.
However, Supervisor Chairman Gary Pezzuolo said last night that the money is not yet in place to "start digging" for the $12 million project. Supervisor Poncho Exposito said the township is still waiting to hear if it will receive loans and grants for the project from a variety of agencies, and may hear from some of them next month.
If funding comes through, the project could start in 2006.
Other business
Supervisors approved an ordinance that will allow the township to recover fire department costs due to motor vehicle accidents. Pezzuolo said that, for example, if a truck spilled fuel, the township would be able to bill the owner for costs of cleanup. Private motorists' insurance companies would be billed for any costs incurred. Township residents would not be affected by the ordinance.
They also agreed to apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to fix several drainage problems in the township including one in Edinburg, one on U.S. Route 224, and one near the township community center on U.S. Route 224.
Morris, who is also code enforcement officer, reported that a Jan. 14 court date has been set before District Magistrate John Lamb for hearings on the township's criminal and civil complaints against the owner of a Garner Road property which has long been the subject of residents' complaints for nuisance vehicles and other debris.