TOWNSHIPS Expenses, services up income flat

The township may seek a tax increase next year to pay for rising costs.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Over the last few years, Boardman's expenses have increased as services have grown while revenue has remained flat.
Those expenses include additional people hired, increased wages and salaries for employees and rising health care costs, said William D. Leicht, township clerk.
Township officials met Friday at the Youngstown Club in the second of a two-day strategic planning session.
A recent survey of township officials, employees and the public showed that township finances were the top issue on people's minds.
Two years ago, employee health care costs increased by 46 percent, the clerk said. Last year, the increase was 23 percent.
'At the mercy'
"Our revenues are fixed," he said. "We're at the mercy of our community."
The amount local governments receive from the state has decreased.
Trustees don't want to balance the budget by cutting personnel and reducing services, Leicht said.
"You can't expect more services with no new money," he said.
Employees want higher wages and companies want to charge more for the products, but no one wants to pay more taxes, he said.
Leicht has said he expects a levy to be placed on the ballot next year. The last township levy passed was in 1995. If the finances aren't addressed, the township will have a $1.8 million deficit in 2008, he has said.
The planning session marks the third one for the township. They're conducted every two years.
Concerns and progress
Other issues of concern identified in the survey include flooding, traffic, crime and tougher zoning.
Trustee Tom Costello said good things have come from the two previous sessions. Additional firefighters were hired when trustees agreed at the planning meeting that they were needed.
The board decided to renovate and rebuild its South Avenue and Lockwood Boulevard-Shields Road fire stations. Trustees also decided to pursue accreditation for the police department. The department is expecting an assessment for accreditation in December.
"There's an opportunity for all of us to prosper and grow, and it's going to take each one of us working together as a team," Costello said.