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Springfield trustee calls for frugality
The administrative secretary’s position was made full time this year to comply with state law.
NEW SPRINGFIELD – Trustee Robert Orr asked Springfield Township’s department heads to exercise frugality this year because no one knows how a new tax rollback, residential foreclosures and changes in the estate tax will affect the township’s 2008 tax revenues.
In a special meeting to adopt the 2008 budget Thursday, Orr noted that while the state’s new 25 percent property tax rollback for senior citizens “is a good thing,” he doesn’t know how much it will reduce township property tax revenues.
Orr said that other factors to likely reduce the township’s tax receipts include the 65 home foreclosures in the township as well as a new $750,000 threshold for estate taxes, a portion of which go to the township.
He said the township is operating in the black and able to buy new equipment — and he wants to keep it that way.
The $309,659 2008 general fund adopted by trustees shows a 10 percent increase in expenditures over 2007’s $284,123 figure. Orr said the increase is due to extension of medical benefits to the township’s administrative secretary and to a newly elected township trustee.
The administrative secretary’s position was made full time this year to comply with state law. Orr said that even at her part-time status, her hours already were considered full time by state standards and this required extension of medical benefits. Also, Orr said that while former Trustee Jim Holleran, who left office in December, did not use township medical benefits, newly elected Trustee Rick Jones is covered by them, as are both Orr and Trustee Gerald Guterba.
The new total budget of $2.18 million is also 7 percent higher than the 2007 total of $2.04 million. Major factors accounting for the increase include the anticipated construction of a salt bin to comply with environmental rules and purchase of a new police car, a small truck for the road department and a first responder truck. Township fiscal officer Patti Gibson said money for these projects has been saved over several years and will be combined with additional revenues from this year to make the purchases.
While property taxes are the township’s major source of revenue, other income comes from estate taxes, landfill tipping fees, cable television franchise fees, motor vehicle license taxes, gas taxes and ambulance billings, officials said.