Supervisors raise taxes

By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HILLSVILLE, Pa. -- Mahoning Township residents will pay slightly higher taxes in 2006.
Township supervisors unanimously raised taxes by 0.25 mills when they met this week. The increase amounts to a $2.50 increase for each $10,000 of assessed property value.
Supervisor Chairman Gary Pezzuolo said the increase will allow the township to keep pace with expenses. Driving the increase are rising costs for insurance, fuel for buildings and equipment, and materials, such as road salt.
The last tax increase was seven-tenths of a mill in 2003.
Pezzuolo also asked for suggestions on what to do with the community center, which he said is a drain on township funds. Treasurer Gil Lucarelli said the center is losing $14,000 a year.
The cost of heating and maintaining the building is not covered by the revenue from the 20 to 25 annual rentals of the center for parties and other activities, he said.
Township building
Pezzuolo said the building could be leased or sold to raise money to build a new township office building. The township building, which stands across the parking lot from the community center, also is in bad repair with a leaking roof and other defects, which Pezzuolo doesn't think can be repaired.
Supervisors use the community center only for their monthly meetings. But they said if the community center were sold and a new township facility built, supervisors' meetings could be temporarily held elsewhere.
In other matters, supervisors:
UAgreed to apply for a PennVest 1 percent loan for an engineering study for the $11 million proposed Hillsville/Edinburg sewer line, which would run from the Ohio line to north and south Edinburg. They also received word from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the township is on a waiting list for a grant for that project but are not likely to get funding until October 2007. The USDA money would reduce user fees for residents on the line.
UHeard Supervisor Poncho Exposito report the main line of the Edinburg waterline installation is finished and tap-ins are under way.
UAnnounced their January meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 3.